Lost in the Woods
by Isabeau1
Summary: Sequel to Babe in the Woods. Nim finally finds where Nod came from in the scrolls, but the reunion with Nod's relatives doesn't go as smoothly as it could have.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note:_ This is the sequel to **Babe in the Woods**. If you'd like to know more about how Ronin found little Nod lost in the woods and ended up taking him in, please take a look at the first story.

* * *

"I changed my mind," Nod fidgeted, hopping nervously from one foot to the other.

Ronin gave him an unimpressed look. This was the third time he had changed his mind this morning, although really, he hadn't changed his mind at all. Every time he had announced he had changed it, he was really just declaring the same misgiving.

"And why is that?" Ronin asked, going back to stirring the stew.

"I don't think I should meet him today," Nod hugged Cheep-Cheep to his chest, "I think tomorrow will be better."

"Why will tomorrow be better?" Ronin tried not to laugh; Nod was genuinely nervous, but his reasons as to why he shouldn't meet Finn's younger brother had become increasingly creative as the morning progressed.

"Because maybe I'll be taller tomorrow," Nod pressed against Ronin's leg, "then if Eben is really, really big, he won't be so much bigger than me tomorrow."

"Eben is about your size," Ronin patted Nod's head.

Nod didn't seem to quite grasp the idea of other children being like him, which made sense to Ronin. He hadn't been around any children since Ronin had found him. Now seemed like a good time to introduce him though and get him used to playing with people his own age; he was talking well, and he loved all the games Orla taught him. It would be good for him to have other children to talk and play with.

Nora had suggested she bring Eben over to play. He was about the same age as Nod, and in Nora's own words 'not a crazy loon like the rest of my horde.'

Ronin would have said she was exaggerating, but her oldest son was his second-in-command.

"But I don't know Eben," Nod protested.

"Well, you'll just have to meet him," Ronin reasoned, "then you'll know him."

"But what if he tries to eat me!"Nod wailed.

"What?" Ronin blinked.

"What if he tries to eat me?" Nod repeated miserably, burying his face against his stuffed chickadee, "I don't like it when that happens."

The strangest things came out of Nod's mouth sometimes. It would have been funny, but he was always sincere when he said them, which was sometimes frightening. Nod couldn't tell them much about his time in the forest, and it just frustrated him to try, so Ronin rarely asked, but sometimes he wished he knew more.

"Why would Eben want to eat you?" Ronin set the spoon down and picked Nod up, sitting him on the counter.

"Because you said he was almost my size, and spiders are almost my size, and sometimes they try to eat me," Nod explained, toying nervously with the yarn tuff on Cheep-Cheep's head.

"Eben isn't a spider," Ronin tweaked Nod's nose gently, "he's a jinn just like you. He's Finn's little brother, remember?"

"And that means he and Finn have the same mom and dad, and Mrs. Nora is their mom," Nod hugged Cheep-Cheep tight.

"That's right," Ronin brushed Nod's hair back from his forehead and pressed a kiss to it, "do you want to stir the stew for me?"

The boy nodded and shifted his stuffed toy so he could take the spoon and stir.

"But what if he doesn't like my toys, and I don't know any of the games he wants to play," Nod concentrated intensely on his stirring, "and he doesn't like me at all, and then he tries to eat me."

"Eben is not going to try to eat you," Ronin said firmly, "you don't taste good."

"How do you know?" Nod sulked.

"Want me to check?" Ronin grinned.

Nod's head snapped up, and Ronin leaned forward and tickled him, pretending to nip at his cheeks. The boy squealed and laughed, and Ronin managed to pluck the spoon from his hand before he could fling stew everywhere.

"You're going to make the stew burn!" Nod yelled between shrieks of laughter.

"Then I better stop, huh?" Ronin laughed and gave Nod's cheek one more kiss before going back to stirring. "It will be fine chickadee. Eben is a very nice little boy, just like you, and you'll have fun playing together. Mrs. Nora says he likes to play with blocks, just like you do."

"Does he like knocking them down too?" Nod asked, reaching for the spoon again.

"You'll have to ask him," Ronin handed it over to him, letting him resume stirring.

"You're not going to leave while he's here, are you?" Nod gave him a wary look.

"No," Ronin reassured him, "I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Nod had decided he wasn't coming out from under the table. If Eben was small like him, then he would be able to fit under the couch and get into Nod's nest, so it was just better if Nod stayed under the table and sat on Ronin's feet, so he could tell Ronin if Eben tried to eat him, and then Ronin would stop him, because Ronin was really good at being scary to things that were bad.

Eben was sitting on Mrs. Nora's lap, and Nod could see his feet. They looked like Nod's feet, except his shoes weren't as good as Nod's shoes, because Nod's shoes had bells on them, and that made them better.

"Eben, Nod has some books," Mrs. Nora set Eben on his feet, but Nod still couldn't see all of him, "why don't you pick one, and you can practice reading."

"Ok," Eben said and headed into the living room.

Nod rested his head against Ronin's knee and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Ronin dropped his hand down to pat Nod's head, then handed him a cracker.

Eben came back, but instead of climbing onto Mrs. Nora's lap again, he crawled under the table. Nod shrank back farther against Ronin, wrapping an arm around his leg.

"Hi," Eben sat down near Mrs. Nora's feet and waved to Nod, "I'm Eben."

Nod returned the wave uncertainly. Eben had red hair and freckles like Finn, but his eyes were brown like Nod's.

"Is it okay if I read your book?" Eben asked.

Nod nodded. Reading was when Ronin or Miss Orla told him stories about the pictures in books. Nod liked to tell stories about the pictures too, and Ronin said his stories were good stories. Maybe Eben's stories would be good stories too.

Eben opened the book in his lap, turning to the first page, "there are lots of plants in the forest."

Nod knew this book. Miss Orla read it to him. It had lots of pictures of pretty plants, and she told him things about each one.

"This is a cattail," Eben held up the book so Nod could see the picture, then set it back in his lap, "they grow near water. They are good to eat."

"We eat cattail," Nod said without thinking, then pressed back against Ronin's leg and stuck his thumb in his mouth again.

"We do too," Eben said, "Mom boils the tubers sometimes, or we eat the stems pickled."

"I don't like it pickled," Nod made a face.

"Mom says it's good for us, but it tastes bad," Eben agreed.

"That's what Ronin says," Nod smiled tentatively.

Eben grinned and held up the book so Nod could see the picture, "next is a sunflower."

"Chickadees like those!" Nod scooted a little closer to him, "when the seeds come out they take them to their trees and they peck at them until there's a hole, then they eat the seed out."

"What else do chickadees eat?" Eben asked curiously.

"They like caterpillars," Nod told him.

"Eww!" Eben made a face.

"It's icky," Nod agreed, "but they like berries too and lots of different seeds, and they hide them in holes in trees and sometimes they share. They're really good at finding food, and they tell other birds when they find it, like this."

Nod made the chick-a-dee-dee sound that the birds made when they found food. Eben tried to copy him, but he added too many 'dees'.

"No, that means something bad is coming," Nod laughed, "it's like this."

He made the call again. It took Eben a few tries, but eventually he got it right.

"What else do chickadees say?" Eben asked eagerly.

"They say lots of things," Nod grinned, scooting to sit next to him.

Nora took a sip of her tea and set it back on the table, "Eben is going to teach the triplets to do that, and I'm going to have a flock of birds in my house."

"It could be worse," Ronin laughed, "at least Nod isn't teaching him to growl like a fox."

* * *

"Maybe Eben could come back tomorrow," Nod was unbuttoning his night shirt as fast as Ronin was buttoning it.

"Leave that buttoned," Ronin put Cheep-Cheep in his arms to stop him from undoing it, "it's cold."

"I want my blue pajamas. Can I have my blue pajamas?" Nod shifted his stuffed chickadee, trying to figure out how to hold him and undo buttons at the same time.

"They're in the laundry hamper," Ronin tickled him when he tried for another button, and he squirmed and giggled, "I'll drop the laundry off on my way to work tomorrow."

"But Eben can come over tomorrow," Nod insisted, "Miss Orla will like Eben because he's learning to talk like a chickadee, and he didn't try to eat me."

"I'm pretty sure Eben has school tomorrow, but I'll talk to Mrs. Nora and see when he can come over again," Ronin finished buttoning Nod's night shirt and set him on the ground, "where are your slippers?"

"What's school?" Nod crawled under the bed to retrieve his slippers; he had put them there for safe keeping before his bath.

"School is where children go to learn," Ronin waited for him to reemerge.

"Are there lots of children there?" Nod asked, sitting on the floor to put his slippers on.

"Usually," Ronin grinned down at him.

"That doesn't sound very good," Nod frowned, "Eben was nice and didn't try to eat me, but maybe other children would try to eat me. I don't want to go to school."

"No one is going to try to eat you," Ronin reached down to rumple his hair, "at least not any jinn, but you don't have to worry about school for a while."

Nod still got upset easily by strangers and large crowds, although he would at least venture into them if Ronin was with him. There was no question right now about him going to a regular school. He just wasn't ready to be around that many people yet.

"But what if they eat Eben?" Nod's brow furrowed, "I like Eben. I don't want anyone to eat him."

"No one is going to eat Eben either," Ronin picked a book up off the bed, "you can ask him about school next time you see him. Do you want to look at books in here while I'm in the shower or play with your toys in the living room?"

"I'll go play," Nod padded off down the hall, his slippers jingling, "I'll pick good books while you're in the shower and you can read to me about the pictures."

"Sounds like a plan," Ronin agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

"…unit had a run in with a boggan group," Ronin reported, "no casualties. They attacked one of the harvest caravans."

"First signs of spring I suppose," Queen Tara sighed, "increase the escorts with the harvesters."

"Yes your majesty," Ronin nodded, "we also have the option of waiting a few more weeks before sending out the caravans. Our supplies are still stable, and it would save us a few rounds of fighting to let the boggans settle down."

The boggans disappeared for the winter. Where they went, no one was quite sure, although there were rumors that they hibernated. They certainly popped up at the beginning of spring as grumpy as a bear waking from its winter nap. If the jinn's stores were still strong at the end of winter, it often made more sense for the jinn to just let the boggans be for a few weeks. There wasn't much they could rot with the snow still just melting off, and it spared the Leafmen a few skirmishes and casualties.

"Let's…."

"Queen Tara!" Nod sprang out of the underbrush of the queen's chamber, running up to her.

"Yes sweetie?" Tara smiled, crouching down in front of him.

"I found a shiny rock," Nod held a blue stone out to her, "it's for you. It's really pretty!"

Nod still liked coming with Ronin for his evening debriefings with the queen. Since he had started talking, it was even less efficient having him along, but he really loved seeing the queen and playing in her inner chamber. Ronin didn't bring him all the time, but it was good for him to be out and interacting with people besides Ronin and Orla.

"Thank you honey," Tara took it from him, kissing his cheek, "it's beautiful."

"I'll find you more!" Nod said enthusiastically, racing off into the underbrush again.

"Nod, where are your shoes?" Ronin called after him.

"I don't need shoes!" Nod called back.

Ronin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Still no luck with getting him to keep those on huh?" Tara laughed softly.

"No," Ronin shook his head, "he'll keep his snow boots on if it's snowing, and he likes his slippers with the bells, but that's about it."

"It's not too cold in here," Tara slipped the stone Nod had given her into a pocket, "he should be fine."

"That's not really the point," Ronin grumbled, then cleared his throat, "anyway, we could wait to send out the first round of harvesters and avoid some conflict."

"Send out extra escorts with them for the next few days and continue monitoring the situation," Tara said, "if there's a lot of activity, we'll pull them back for another week or two."

"Yes your majesty," Ronin nodded.

"Have you spoken with Captain Dag yet about…?"

"Queen Tara!" Nod reappeared, racing up to her again.

"Did you find more?" Tara asked, leaning down to see.

"I found a buckle," the boy held it up for her to see.

It was a carved wooden buckle, probably off of a very nice woman's overcoat.

"You're so clever," Tara nuzzled her nose against his, making him laugh, "you should hold onto it."

Nod looked between the buckle and Ronin uncertainly. Nod was a magpie of a child sometimes, and Ronin had been trying to explain to him that sometimes the things he found had owners and should be returned to them.

"Can I?" Nod asked, "do we have to look for the person it belongs to first?"

"I don't think the owner will miss that one," Ronin told him.

"Okay!" Nod put the buckle in his pocket, "I'll go find more!"

"Find your shoes," Ronin called after him as he disappeared back under the leaves, "we're leaving soon."

"I don't need shoes!" Nod repeated.

"Yes you do," Ronin rolled his eyes, "there's still snow on the ground."

"You can carry me!" the boy called back.

"Not without shoes I'm not," Ronin countered.

"Okay!"

"Does that mean he's finding his shoes, or that he's alright with walking home barefoot in the snow?" Tara grinned.

"Both probably," Ronin snorted, "yes, I talked to Captain Dag. He has two units assigned to security for the immediate perimeter of the ball room, and there will be three extra units on duty for Moonhaven proper."

"That's probably a little overkill," Tara tipped her head to the side thoughtful.

"It is," Ronin agreed, "but by the time the First Bloom Festival happens, the graduating recruits will have just been assigned to their units. This is a good first assignment for them. Plus it doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"I found another shiny rock!" Nod yelled from somewhere in the tall grass to their left, "this one is green!"

"Find your shoes," Ronin repeated, then quirked a smile at Tara, "you hide those for him, don't you?"

"Of course," Tara laughed, "we'd never get anything done if I didn't."

"I found my shoes!" Nod announced, bursting back out of the grass, "but I can't wear them. Also this is for you."

He handed Tara a green stone.

"Thank you sweetie," she accepted the rock, giving him a hug, "why can't you wear your shoes?"

"I need them to carry things in," Nod held a shoe up so she could see.

There was an assortment of rocks, small flowers, and beads inside the shoe. The beads were from an old necklace Tara never wore. She was glad to find Nod liked them.

"You have pockets for that buddy," Ronin reminded him.

"Shoes are better," Nod told him, "that way I don't have to wear them."

Tara did her best to smother a laugh behind her hand. At least he boy was honest.

"It's too cold for you not to wear your shoes," Ronin knelt down and sat Nod on the ground so he could put his shoes back on.

"But, all the pretty things I found…" Nod hugged his shoes to his chest.

"Put them in your pockets," Ronin instructed.

"There's too many," Nod gave Ronin a heartbroken look.

Tara smiled and reached up, coaxing a leave to curl into a bowl shape, then plucking it off the plant.

"Here you go sweetie," she handed it to the boy, "you can carry them in it."

Nod brightened immediately, setting the leaf in his lap and empting his shoes into it. He was so happy to show Tara all the things he had found that he barely noticed Ronin brushing the dirt off his feet and putting his shoes back on.

"Is there anything else your majesty?" Ronin asked, helping Nod to his feet once his shoes were on.

"No," Tara shook her head, "have a good night general, and you too Nod."

"Goodnight!" Nod hugged her with one arm, his leaf bowl tucked securely in the crook of his other one.

"Goodnight your majesty," Ronin bowed, then took Nod's hand, listening contently as the boy chattered all the way home.

* * *

Ronin finished reading through the last patrol report and dropped it in a pile to be filed. As the weather warmed and more harvesters were going out, the Leafmen were getting busier. He was going to have to go back to working a full week soon. He had been putting off transitioning from the winter schedule because he knew Nod was going to be unhappy with him going back to only having one day a week off instead of two, but he couldn't put it off much longer.

It was easier now that Nod was talking, and they could actually explain things to him, but he was still going to be upset. Even now, the boy was prone to the occasional tantrum when he couldn't have what he wanted, particularly when he couldn't understand why.

Ronin was just reaching for the next stack of papers when there was a knock at his office door.

"Come in," he called.

"Hey Ronin," Nim pushed the door open, looking slightly less jovial than usual.

"Nim," Ronin greeted, "I don't see you here often. Hopefully it's with good news this time."

Last time Nim had shown up in Ronin's office it was to tell him there had been a major collapse in one of the tunnels that ran under the Stump, leaving them vulnerable to boggan attack.

"Little of both," Nim shrugged his upper arms, tapping a scroll against his leg with one of his lower hands, "what do you want first?"

"Bad news," Ronin said without hesitation.

"I found our little man finally," Nim held the scroll out to Ronin, "this is just a summary. His parents are dead, just like we suspected."

"What's his real name?" Ronin took the scroll, unrolling it.

It wasn't that surprising that Nod's parents were dead. Children didn't just disappear among the jinn. If his parents had been alive, they would have been looking for him, and the Leafmen would have heard about it.

"Arlen. He's seven, not six like Glory thought," Nim crossed two sets of arms and continued to gesture with the third, "his parents were named Soren and Lysette. You remember the village of Bolete?"

"Yes," Ronin's brow creased, "the boggans rotted it to the ground, no survivors, but that was almost two years ago now. He can't be from there, Nim. That would mean Nod was lost for almost a year and a half."

"He's a clever little guy," Nim shook his head, "clever and lucky."

"How did he survive?" Ronin's gut twisted at the thought of Nod having been anywhere near Bolete when the boggans razed it, "the boggans didn't leave anything alive."

"His dad saved him," Nim explained, "he was a member of the town guard. When the attack happened, his mom tried to hide with him in their root cellar, but a boggan found them and killed her. His dad got there in time to save Nod though. He tried to get out of the village with him, but he got taken down outside of it by a boggan arrow. When he fell, Nod hit his head and was knocked unconscious. The boggans thought he was dead as well and left him alone."

"And he woke up all alone after the village had been destroyed," Ronin concluded.

"Actually, a little before that," Nim shook his head, "he woke up while they were still rotting the village and got frightened and ran. It's a good thing he didn't cry or scream or the boggans would have seen him."

Ronin shuttered at the thought. It might be a good thing that Nod didn't seem to remember anything. He wasn't sure if telling Nod would help him remember, and if it did, it wouldn't be very easy on the boy to have those memories back.

"Does he have any other family?" Ronin asked.

"Well, that's the good news," Nim smiled, "he has a great-great uncle who lives in Willowbrook, Lord Barnet."

"Willowbrook is so far away," Ronin sighed.

He knew he should be happy that Nod had relatives, but a part of him had been hoping if they did find Nod's family, they would be close by, and Ronin would be able to visit regularly. It would have made the transition easier on Nod. Going to live far away with someone he had never met was going to frighten him.

"You'll just have to take time off more often so you can visit," Nim grinned.

Nim made it sound easy, but Ronin knew his time with his little chickadee was coming to an end.


	3. Chapter 3

Ronin called it a day early. Nim had taken the information to the Child Advocacy Commission, and they would handle contacting Barnet. For his own peace of mind, Ronin had put out some inquiries about him as well. Just because he was family didn't mean he would be a fit guardian for Nod, and Ronin would feel better giving Nod to him if he knew more about him.

He wasn't sure how Nod was going to react to the news of his parents' death. While it had happened almost two years ago, it would be new to Nod and would probably upset him. So would the news that he would be leaving Ronin to go live with his great-great uncle on the other side of the forest.

Ronin didn't plan on telling him about both today. He would tell Nod about his parents when he got home, and see how he took it, then tell him tomorrow about Barnet. He had already contacted Finn and told him he was taking the day off. If Nod was really upset by either piece of news, it would be better if Ronin could stay with him.

As soon as Ronin opened the front door, Nod squealed in delight and bolted to him. Ronin sometimes came home for lunch, but he was rarely home this early in the afternoon. Ronin scooped him up without bothering with his armor or weapons, holding him close and covering his face in kisses until he was breathless with laughter.

Ronin didn't put him down even after he had stopped, and Nod wrapped his arms and legs around him, giggling gleefully.

"You're home early," the boy informed him, "you should stay home. It's better when you stay home with me."

"I am staying home," Ronin gave him a squeeze.

Orla gave him a questioning look.

"Nim got back to me," Ronin explained, "I'm going to take tomorrow off too."

"You're taking tomorrow off!" Nim bounced in his arms.

"I am," Ronin pressed another kiss to his cheek.

"Was it good news?" Orla asked cautiously.

"It was what we had suspected," Ronin said.

"Oh," Orla knew what that meant.

She and Ronin had both agreed that the most likely scenario was that Nod's parents had been killed somehow. It was still disappointing to find out the child really was orphaned.

"I'll fill you in on the details later," Ronin assured her, "it will be alright though."

He wished he was more sure of that, but in lieu of his parents being alive, finding that Nod had relatives really was the next best thing.

"What will be alright?" Nod looked up at him curiously.

"Everything," Ronin hugged him tight, "everything is going to be fine."

* * *

Nod chatted away about his day while Ronin took off his armor. Miss Orla had let him play with paint, and he had liked it, but she had made him take a bath afterwards, and he didn't think he had needed one, because the paint had looked pretty on his hands.

Ronin tried to shake off his growing sense of sorrow; he wasn't going to be coming home to this for much longer, and he knew he would miss it. He would just have to enjoy it while he could.

He had other things to worry about right now though.

"Come sit on the couch with me," Ronin lead the boy into the living room after locking the weapons cabinet.

Nod crawled onto his lap as soon as he sat down, sitting facing him and looking up at him expectantly.

"Does the name Arlen sound familiar to you?" Ronin asked, lacing his hands behind Nod's back.

"No," Nod shook his head, "who's that? Is it someone good?"

"It's someone very good," Ronin nodded, "Arlen is your name."

"My name is Nod," the boy wrinkled his nose.

"Your name is Nod," Ronin agreed, not wanting to argue with the child, "but it used to be Arlen."

"Nod is better," Nod informed him, "you named me Nod and that makes it better."

"You can still be Nod," Ronin nuzzled his nose against the boy's, "your parents named you Arlen though. Do you remember anything about your parents?"

Ronin had asked him before, but maybe hearing his own name would help him remember something.

"No," Nod shrugged, "I don't need parents. I have you."

Ronin sighed softly and pulled Nod closer to rest against his chest. The boy offered no resistance, always happy to be held by Ronin.

"Mr. Nim found out who your parents were," Ronin told him, "they died before you got lost in the forest."

"But I always lived in the forest," Nod said in confusion, "and then you found me and now I live with you and it's better than the forest because there's lots of food and less things try to eat me but I miss the chickadees and I think you should let me growl at people who I don't know because they might be mean and try to come get me."

"You shouldn't growl at people," Ronin laughed despite himself and stroked Nod's hair, "before you were in the forest, you lived with your parents. Do you remember that?"

"No," Nod frowned, then added worriedly, "am I supposed to?"

"No," Ronin reassured him, "it's alright if you don't remember, but you did live with them before they died."

"How did they die?" Nod asked curiously, still showing no signs of distress.

"They were killed by boggans," Ronin answered him carefully.

He wasn't going to go into any of the details that Nod seemed to not remember, but he wasn't going to lie to the boy either.

"What are boggans?" Nod gave him a confused look.

Ronin blinked. He tried to not talk about work around Nod, especially about things that might frighten or upset him, but he hadn't thought Nod didn't know what boggans were at all. Actually, he might have known from being in the forest, and just not known what they were call. They had found that happened often with animals that he knew but didn't have a name for.

"You and Queen Tara talk about them sometimes, but I don't know what they are," Nod frowned at him, "are they bad things?"

"Yes, they are," Ronin tried to think of where he might have an image of one, "maybe I have a picture in one of my books."

"I can look at my books!" Nod announced brightly, "maybe there's a boggan in my books!"

Ronin let him slide of his lap. He was sure there were no boggans in Nod's picture books, but it didn't hurt to let him look while Ronin looked through his own collection. He finally found a not too grotesque drawing of one in a book of epic poetry.

"Here's one," Ronin crouched down beside the boy who was flipping through the pages of his favorite picture book, making the sounds for all the animals in it.

"Ronin will you read me this book," Nod held it out to him, "it has about moon owls. I like those."

"Maybe a little later," Ronin sat on the floor beside him, setting the book aside and opening the book he had found to show Nod the picture, "this is a boggan."

"Those are bad!" Nod scowled and reached out to snap the book shut, "I don't like those! You told Queen Tara that you chased them, but you shouldn't chase them, you should run away. They're mean, and they do bad things!"

Ronin looked down at the boy in surprise. This wasn't the first time Nod has scolded him for doing things he didn't like, but usually it involved not getting enough sweets or not being home enough. Ronin set the book aside and picked Nod up, settling him in his lap.

"They are bad," Ronin agreed, "it's part of my job to help keep people safe from them."

"That's a bad job," Nod huffed, "I don't want you to chase boggans."

"It's a good job," Ronin shook his head, "it lets me help people and find little chickadees when they're lost in the woods."

Ronin tickled the boy, and Nod tried to resist and keep the scowl on his face, but he dissolved quickly into squirming giggles.

"Can't you do that without chasing boggans?" Nod asked breathlessly once Ronin stopped.

"Afraid not," Ronin kissed his forehead, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect your parents."

"And they're dead," Nod repeated, head cocked to the side, "because the boggans killed them."

"That's right," Ronin brushed back Nod's hair, "do you know what that means, to be dead?"

"Yes," Nod wiggled a little, "when foxes catch mice, they crunch them and then they're dead, and sometimes there are birds and they fall down and don't get up anymore and I don't like it when that happens. Dead means they're not there anymore."

"That's right," Ronin tried not to cringe at Nod's examples.

"So my parents aren't there anymore," the boy concluded, then smiled up at Ronin, "but that's alright because you're here. Will you read to me about the moon owls now?"

It felt like Nod had missed something vital in Ronin's explanation, but Ronin wasn't sure how else to explain it to him, and he had understood all the pieces, that they had found out who his parents were, and that they were dead, and what death meant, but he didn't seem to be connecting all those things to himself.

Maybe that was alright for now. Nod had plenty of time to understand better, and for now he was still happy. He wouldn't be once Ronin told him he was going to live with his great-great uncle on the other side of the forest, but that could wait until tomorrow.

"Yep, let's read about the moon owls," Ronin picked the book up off the floor and held it so Nod could see the pictures.

Nod hooted cheerfully and settled in Ronin's lap, chattering happily about how much he liked moon owls in-between each page turn.


	4. Chapter 4

"No, I live with you," Nod informed Ronin as if he were being particularly dense.

"You live with me right now, but when your uncle comes…" Ronin tried to explain.

"No!" Nod stomped his foot and folded his arms across his chest, "I live with you!"

"Nod…" Ronin knelt down in front of the child, "he's your family. It's good to live with family."

"I don't need family!" Nod hiccuped, tears starting to form in his eyes, "I want to live with you. I'm your chickadee. I belong to you."

"You are my chickadee," Ronin reached out to take his hands, "but you don't belong to me."

"Yes I do!" Nod cried, pushing Ronin's hands away, "you let me sleep with you and you keep me safe and you bring me food and when mommy birds do that that means those chicks belong to them."

"I love you chickadee, I really do," Ronin reached out to wipe the tears off the boy's cheeks, "I want you to have a good home with a family that's there to take care of you all the time."

"But I have you," Nod sobbed, "you take care of me. I want to live with you."

"I know, but…" Ronin tried to pull the child into his arms.

"No!" Nod stomped his foot again and shoved Ronin away, "I live with you!"

"Nod, you can't…"

"No!" Nod screamed, ducking under Ronin's arm, "I won't go! I live with you!"

The boy bolted down the hall into Ronin's bedroom and slammed the door.

Ronin's shoulders slumped, and he rubbed his eyes. This would have been so much easier on Nod if Barnet had been closer. Then they could have made the transition more gradually. With Willowbrook so far away though, it just wasn't practical.

He was just going to have to find a way to help Nod get used to the idea.

* * *

"I told you this would be a problem," Ronin growled, "I told you, you should have put him with someone else."

"So he could throw temper tantrums for them instead?" Glory gave the general an unimpressed look.

"He's gotten too attached to me," Ronin protested, "he doesn't even want to consider going with anyone else."

"He's been attached to you since the minute you pulled him out of the forest," Glory pointed out, "if we had moved him, he either would have gotten attached to someone else and had the same problem, or he wouldn't have ever trusted them and wouldn't have made nearly as much progress as he has with you."

"He won't come out from under the bed," Ronin said in exasperation.

Glory snorted, "at least you know where he is."

"Glory!"

"You're just going to have to help him get used to the idea," Glory shrugged, "you know him better than anyone; you'll figure it out."

"He needs time," Ronin said in frustration, "he needs time to get used to the idea, and he needs time to meet Barnet and get used to him, and neither of those are options. Barnet could be here to get him as early as next week."

"We could talk to the advocates about postponing Barnet taking him," Glory offered.

"That might help," Ronin conceded, "but it still won't solve the problem of how poorly Nod copes with strangers,"

"Then you'll just have to do the best you can with it," Glory said, "it's not like you're never going to see him again. I'm sure Barnet will let you visit, and knowing that should help Nod at least a little."

Ronin doubted that. Nod was so angry with him for saying he had to go with his uncle that he doubted Nod would want to see him again for a long time once he actually made him leave.

The truth was, Ronin didn't really want Nod to leave. In the three months he had been with Ronin, Ronin had started to think of Nod as his, but the boy deserved to have a family and more attention and help than Ronin would ever be able to give him while general.

Ronin was going to miss him though; it would be hard to go back to coming home to an empty apartment.

He was the adult though, and he had to do what was best for Nod.

* * *

"Nod, come out, it's dinner time," Ronin ducked down to look under the bed.

"No!" Nod pressed back into the corner farther and hugged Cheep-Cheep close.

"Chickadee, you can't stay under there until your uncle comes," Ronin sighed.

"I'm never ever coming out!" Nod told him, "I'm staying under the bed until Uncle Barnet gets tired of waiting and goes away, and then I won't come out until you forget that he was supposed to take me so that you can't call him when I come out. I'm staying here forever!"

"Ah," Ronin sat down on the floor with his back to the bed, "what are you going to eat?"

"You and Miss Orla will bring me food," Nod informed him.

"Yeah," Ronin agreed, "we probably will. What if you get cold?"

"I'll be super sneaky and I'll take your blanket while you're asleep and you won't ever catch me, because I'm super fast and sneakier than you," Nod said.

"You take my blanket every night anyway," Ronin shrugged.

"That's because you're a big old blanket hog and you take it first," Nod sulked.

"I do not," Ronin protested.

"Yes you do!" Nod accused, "and you snore like a grumpy bear."

"I am not the one who snores," Ronin did his best not to snicker.

"Are to!"

"Am not."

"Are to!"

"Am not," Ronin did snicker this time, "you snore like a little chickadee."

Ronin was going to miss that too. He had gotten used to Nod's soft snoring, and his warm little body pressed up against him, and his sleepy, grumpy protests when Ronin got up in the morning and left him to go to work.

"What if Eben comes over again?" Ronin asked.

"Is Eben coming over?" Nod head popped out from under the bed next to Ronin.

"I could ask," Ronin looked down at him in amusement.

Nod stared up at him for a moment, then ducked back under the bed, "we'll play under the bed."

Ronin waited patiently, and a moment later Nod's head popped out again, "you are going to ask, aren't you?"

"I'll ask Mrs. Nora tomorrow," Ronin nodded.

"Okay, good," Nod disappeared back under the bed.

"Don't you want to come have dinner?" Ronin asked, "I'm making pancakes. You could help stir."

"Is there maple syrup?" Nod reached out to poke at Ronin's leg.

"Yep," Ronin assured him, "first batch of the year."

"What if Uncle Barnet comes while I'm having pancakes, and I don't have time to get back under the bed before he takes me away?" Nod's hand fisted in the edge of Ronin's shirt.

"I promise I'll tell you before he gets here," Ronin patted Nod's hand.

"Okay, I guess," Nod crept out from under the bed and crawled into Ronin's lap, "but only because the pancakes are better when I help."

"They're much better when you help," Ronin agreed, cuddling the boy close.

"Ronin, I don't want to go," Nod turned into him, burying his face against his chest, "what if he's mean and he doesn't like me and he won't let me play with any toys and he won't let me sleep with him and he tries to eat me."

"He won't try to eat you," Ronin stroked his hair, "and if he's mean, you can come back and stay with me."

Ronin's inquires into Barnet had only returned vague information so far, and he was still looking into it, but if Barnet turned out to be an unfit guardian for Nod for any reason, Ronin would have his custody revoked and bring the boy back to stay with him until a good family could be found for him.

"Why can't I just stay with you now?" Nod whined.

"You need to give your uncle a chance," Ronin coaxed, "he's your family. You might really like living with him. Willowbrook is a really nice town."

"I don't care," Nod huffed, "it's better here."

"I'll come visit," Ronin gave him a squeeze.

"Really?" Nod looked up at him.

"I promise," Ronin pressed his forehead against the boy's, "now how about those pancakes?"

"I get to pour the syrup," Nod informed him.

"Maybe just this once," Ronin tickled his sides.

Nod giggled and squirmed away, pulling at Ronin's hand until he got up, then lead him to the kitchen.


	5. Chapter 5

"Distracted general?" Tara asked, head cocked to the side.

Ronin blinked and focused his attention on her, "apologies your majesty."

"How's Nod doing?" Tara made no attempt to bring the conversation back to its previous topic.

"He's finally out from under the bed," Ronin's shoulders slumped slightly, "but he's still terrified about going with Barnet."

"And how are you?" Tara asked.

Ronin gave her a surprised look, "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your little chickadee is about to leave the nest," Tara pointed out.

"He's not mine," Ronin folded his arms over his chest, "he never was."

"Ronin," Tara gave him an exasperated look.

"It's good that he has family that can take care of him," Ronin shifted to start pacing, then caught himself and stayed still, "that's what's best for him. Some of the logistics just aren't ideal."

"It's okay to be sad he's going," Tara offered gently.

"I…" Ronin frowned at her, "I'm happy he has family."

"You can be both, you know," Tara said.

"I know, I just..." Ronin's brow furrowed, "it doesn't matter. We just have to do what's best for him."

"And what do you think is best for him?" Tara asked, "what have you turned up on Barnet?"

Ronin raised his eyebrows at the queen. Being general required being able to be discreet, and Ronin was good at it. It shouldn't have been getting around that he was investigating Barnet.

"Oh please," Tara smirked, "I didn't even have to ask. Of course you're looking into him."

"And of course you would know," Ronin almost smiled, "I haven't found anything that would raise alarm. He's a widower. He has three grown sons that work with him, and he's a respected merchant, although not always well liked. That doesn't necessarily mean anything though."

"Have you asked any of your contacts in Bufo's group?" Tara frowned slightly.

"Pardon?" Ronin technically didn't have contacts in Bufo's group, and it was nothing the queen should have been asking about regardless.

"Ronin, I helped you make some of those contacts before I became queen," Tara rolled her eyes.

"I haven't asked," Ronin smirked, "I haven't found anything that points to him having criminal dealings."

"Well, keep me updated," Tara requested, "you should take some extra time off to spend with Nod."

"I was going to talk to you about that," Ronin admitted.

"Take as much time as you need," Tara said without hesitation.

"I need to talk to Finn," Ronin said thoughtfully, "he needs to be able to take time off as well, but I'll let you know."

"Alright," Tara agreed, "tell Nod I said hello. If he's up to it, I would love to see him before he goes."

"I'm sure he'll want to see you," Ronin bowed, "and I'll tell him you said hello. Good night your majesty."

"Good night general."

Ronin was half way down the hall before he realized he hadn't finished going through the day's reports with the queen. He went through them quickly in his head and decided there was nothing there that couldn't wait for tomorrow. He had a frightened little chickadee he needed to get home to.

* * *

There was a knock on the door, and Nod squeaked and dropped the blocks he had been playing with. He scrambled to his feet and raced down the hall to Ronin's room.

"Nod, it's just Eben and Mrs. Nora," Ronin called after him as he went to get the door.

Nod didn't answer or reappear, most like safely ensconced under Ronin's bed already. Ronin sighed and opened the door. Hopefully playing with Eben would help improve the boy's mood a little.

Eben tipped his head all the way back to look up at Ronin when he opened the door. He had a backpack on and his arms were full of books.

"Hello General Ronin," the boy said.

"Hello Eben," Ronin smiled down at him, "Nod is under the bed in my room."

"Okay," Eben marched down the hall in the direction Ronin pointed him in as if this were completely normal.

"Still not doing well, huh?" Nora asked sympathetically.

"No," Ronin shook his head, "he seems to think Barnet is going to show up suddenly and carry him off."

"Well, at least we know that's not going to happen," Nora said, "Eben was excited to come over, so hopefully he'll cheer Nod up some."

"I think so," Ronin glanced over his shoulder at a sudden high pitched squeal of delight, "he was excited enough about him coming that he actually came out from under the bed."

Nora laughed softly, "they'll have fun. I'll be back in a few hours."

Nora called her goodbye to Eben before leaving, and Eben shouted back with more volume than necessary, probably used to yelling over all his siblings to be heard.

After Nora left, Ronin went to check on the boys. Eben's feet were sticking out from under the bed, and Nod was explaining in great detail his plan to stay under the bed forever. Eben helpfully offered to bring him books and toys so he wouldn't be board.

"You two come out to the living room if you want snacks, alright," Ronin told them.

"Okay," Eben agreed.

"Maybe we should eat them under the bed," Nod piped up, "in case Uncle Barnet comes."

"Oh yeah," Eben agreed, feet kicking a little, "that's a good idea."

"He isn't coming today," Ronin assured them, "and if you get crumbs in the blankets you have under there, it will make them itchy."

"Maybe we'll come out later then," Nod said, "once it's too late for Uncle Barnet to come."

"He's not coming today," Ronin repeated patiently, "I'm going to do some work in my study. If you need anything, just let me know."

"Okay," the boys said in unison.

Ronin snorted softly and left them alone to play.

* * *

"Me and Eben have a plan," Nod told Ronin proudly.

"Close your eyes," Ronin cautioned before dumping a pitcher of water over Nod's head to wash the soap out of his hair, "what's your plan?"

"When Uncle Barnet comes I'm going to hide so good he'll never ever find me, but I'll tell Eben where I'm hiding and Eben will bring me food and toys and we'll play together," Nod explained after Ronin was done rinsing his hair, "and Eben will be the look out and tell me when Uncle Barnet goes home and then I'll come out and me and Eben will come here and live under the bed until everyone forgets about dumb Uncle Barnet."

"Nod, what if your uncle is really nice, and you like him?" Ronin offered as he used a cloth to wash Nod's face.

"He won't be," Nod said matter-of-factly.

"And why is that?" Ronin asked.

"Because if he was nice he would know that I'm your chickadee and I'm supposed to live with you and he wouldn't make me leave," Nod explained.

"You know you're not really a chickadee, right?" Ronin asked as he washed Nod's back.

"I could be," Nod huffed and folded his arms over his chest, "I could be a chickadee if I wanted. I know how to talk like a chickadee and find food and good places to sleep, but you're not a chickadee so I couldn't stay with you if I was a chickadee so I'm like you instead."

"I would love you even if you were a chickadee," Ronin kissed the boy's forehead, then rinsed the soap off his back.

"I'll be a chickadee then!" Nod announced, hands slapping against the water excitedly, splashing it everywhere, "Uncle Barnet isn't a chickadee, so if I'm a chickadee, I can't be his."

"But you're not a chickadee," Ronin wiped water from his face and tickled Nod's side, "you're a jinn."

"I'm a chickadee!" Nod squirmed and splashed, "I'm a chickadee! I can even take a bath like a chickadee! See!"

Nod proceeded to wiggle and splash in the tub the way a bird in a puddle would, sloshing water over the edge and soaking Ronin.

"Okay," Ronin stood, lifting the giggling, wiggling boy out of the tub and wrapping him in a towel, "you go chickadee your way into your pajamas."

"I'll tell Eben the new plan tomorrow!" Nod trotted down the hall with his towel wrapped around him, "I'll be a chickadee, and then I can't belong to Uncle Barnet."

Ronin frowned slightly. Eben wasn't coming over tomorrow. At least, Ronin hadn't heard anything about Eben coming over tomorrow.

With a shake of his head, Ronin followed Nod down the hall, dragging a towel along the floor with his foot as he went to wipe up the puddles left in the boy's wake. He was starting to wonder if he should be concerned with all of Nod's scheming, far-fetched though his plans were. He needed to find a way to help Nod accept that he was going to live with his uncle, and that it just might not be such a bad thing.

No matter how much Ronin was going to miss him.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ronin, calm down," Finn sat backwards in his chair, watching the general pace, "Willowbrook is a long trip."

"I know," Ronin snapped, "but he's the only family Nod has, and even though his seven year old nephew has been lost and presumed dead for over a year and a half, he's going to make him wait two weeks before he comes to get him because he doesn't feel like making the trip twice."

"At least that gives Nod more time to get used to the idea, although it's not the most encouraging sign," Finn admitted, resting his head on his hand, "but it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be a bad guardian."

"It means he's not making Nod a priority," Ronin growled, pivoting sharply to pace in the other direction, "he's a child, not just something to deal with when it's convenient."

"You could keep him," Finn suggested mildly.

"Of course I can't keep him," Ronin glared, "I'm busy all the time, and if I were to die, he'd be orphaned a second time."

"As your second-in-command, who is too lazy to do your job, could you please not die?" Finn asked drolly.

Ronin stopped pacing to look at him.

"I'm just saying," Finn shrugged, "I'd like to put off having your job for a while longer."

"That's not what we're talking about," Ronin resumed pacing.

Finn snickered softly.

"Barnet is his uncle…" Ronin gripped.

"Great-great uncle," Finn put in.

"And he should care," Ronin ignored him.

"Yeah, he should," Finn agreed, "so we should take a closer look at him than we already have to make sure Nod will be safe with him."

"Even if he's safe, he might not be happy," Ronin finally slumped into his desk chair, "Nod needs attention, and he needs someone who will be patient with him."

"We could try discreetly talking to Barnet's sons," Finn suggested.

"There's no way to guarantee that won't get back to him," Ronin shook his head, "I'll check in with Bufo's people and see if they've heard anything about him."

"That's always so expensive," Finn complained.

"Usually worth it though," Ronin said.

"I'll take care of it then," Finn pushed himself up, "I'm taking your afternoon meeting with the spring harvesting committee, right?"

"Yes, thank you," Ronin sighed, "Nod is not taking this well."

"It will all work out," Finn said confidently, "you'll see."

Finn saluted and left, and Ronin got back to work. He had a lot to do if he wanted to get home early.

* * *

Nod dove into his nest behind the couch at the sound of the door. Not surprisingly, the boy had been thrilled when Ronin had told him his uncle wouldn't be there for another two weeks, but apparently he was still feeling a little jumpy. Nod had gotten much better at understanding time and how it passed, but he still sometimes got confused, especially when it involved something he didn't like. Two weeks and two days didn't seem to sound that different to him.

"Hello General Ronin," Eben greeted him when he opened the door, tipping his head back to look up at him.

"Eben?" Ronin looked down at him in surprise, "what are you doing here?"

"He's helping me!" Nod announced, darting suddenly under Ronin's arm and grabbing Eben's hand, "we're planning."

Before Ronin could protest, Nod had pulled Eben down the hall in the direction of Ronin's room.

"Eben, does your mother know you're here?" Ronin called, shutting the door and heading after them.

"No!" Eben called back, "I'm on my way home from school. I'm just stopping to help Nod first."

"Help him do what?" Ronin pushed open the door to his room and looked around.

Eben's backpack was on the ground next to the nightstand, but neither boy was anywhere to be seen.

"We're planning!" Nod repeated from under the bed.

"Come out from under there," Ronin said firmly.

"No!" Nod yelled back, "we're planning how I can stay here and not go with Uncle Barnet. We're busy."

"Nod," Ronin sighed.

There was whispering from under the bed as the boy's discussed whether to come out or not, and Ronin did his best to wait patiently. Trying to fish Nod out from under furniture was never fun for either of them.

After a few minutes, Eben crawled out from under the bed, followed by a reluctant Nod. Ronin dropped to one knee so he wasn't towering over the boys.

"Eben, you can't just come over without asking your mother first," Ronin said.

"But he's helping me," Nod protested.

"Nod, you need to stop planning to get away from your uncle," Ronin shook his head, "you haven't even met him yet. He's your family. You might really like him."

"No, I won't!" Nod pouted, "I don't want to go with him! I want to stay here, and Eben is helping me because you won't and you're making me go even though I don't want to."

"I know you don't want to, but…" Ronin tried to explain.

"So Eben will help me instead," Nod scowled, then dropped down and wiggled under the bed again before Ronin could catch him.

"I'm still going home," Eben said helpfully, "I'm just stopping here first."

Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He hated being the one who wasn't helping Nod, but he didn't know how to make him understand that he was trying to do what was best for him.

"Have you met Nod's uncle?" Eben asked curiously.

"No," Ronin shook his head, "not yet."

"Do you know if he's nice?" the boy asked.

"I don't have any reason to think he's not," Ronin said.

He didn't have any conclusive reasons anyway. He felt uneasy about the man taking Nod, but he didn't know why, and irritating though the delay was, it didn't constitute a justification for his feelings of unease. Nod was having a hard enough time with this without Ronin adding his unfounded misgivings to it.

"Well, maybe you can find out for sure if he's nice, and Nod and I will work on a back-up plan in case he's not," Eben suggested, "Finn says you should always have a back-up plan."

It was all Ronin could do not to snicker. As someone who had known Finn since they had first enlisted, he could say with certainty, it had taken Finn a long time to come to an appreciation of back-up plans.

"I think you need to let the grown-ups worry about the back-up plan this time," Ronin told him, "I'm going to go send a message to your mother. You can stay with Nod until she gets here."

"Oh," Eben shifted uncomfortably, "you don't have to do that. I know how to get home."

"I'm sure you do," Ronin stood up, "but your mother will want to know why you're late."

"I guess," Eben sighed.

"Thank you for wanting to help Nod," Ronin patted his head, "but next time you think one of your friends needs help, you should let a grown-up know."

"I think Nod needs help," Eben tipped his head back to look up at Ronin, "can I go help him now?"

Ronin blinked, then bit back a groan, "you can help him until your mother gets here to pick you up."

"Okay," Eben dropped back down and crawled under the bed.

The whispering resumed, and Ronin went to send a message to Nora.

* * *

Eben's older sister Miriam came to pick him up, and she looked distinctly embarrassed to have to get him. She apologized profusely, but Ronin was more than a little distracted.

Nod had burst into tears when he realized there was no chance of Eben staying, and when Miriam started to scold Eben for coming over without asking and not telling their mother where he was, Nod got even more upset. From his safe hiding place behind Ronin's leg, he told Miriam that Eben was being good and helping him, and she shouldn't be angry at him. Miriam looked distinctly amused.

It reminded Ronin yet again that Nod did not take being yelled at or scolded well.

After Miriam left with her little brother in tow, Ronin picked Nod up and took him to the rocking chair, stooping to pick up Cheep-Cheep along the way.

"Nod…" Ronin settled the boy in his lap and started rocking.

"Eben is good," Nod cried, "he shouldn't be in trouble. No one else will help me, but Eben said he'd help me and bring me food while I was hiding and tell me when dumb Uncle Barnet is gone."

"Nod, you shouldn't call people dumb," Ronin told him gently, "and anyway, you haven't even met him yet."

"I don't want to meet him!" Nod sobbed, "I don't want to go with him. I live here! Why can't I stay here with you?"

"Change isn't always bad," Ronin drew the boy in closer, and Nod leaned into him, hugging Cheep-Cheep and bringing his thumb up to suck on, "it was a change going from living in the forest to living with me, but that was a good thing, wasn't it?"

The child nodded without taking his thumb out of his mouth.

"So this could be a good change too," Ronin offered, "it might be really great living with your uncle."

"No," Nod whined around his thumb, curling more tightly into Ronin, "I want to live with you."

Ronin sighed softly and continued to rock him, "I know kiddo, but we're just going to have to try this out and see how it goes. It's going to be okay."

Nod sniffled and shook his head, burying his face against Ronin's chest, "you keep the bad things away. Uncle Barnet won't be able to."

"What bad things?" Ronin asked, puzzled.

"All of them," Nod's voice was muffled against Ronin's shirt, "you're big and scary, and you scare all the bad things away. Uncle Barnet won't be able to do that because no one is as big and scary as you."

Ronin was touched, but also found himself fighting off the urge to laugh very hard. He vaguely remembered Finn saying something to that effect right after he had found Nod, and Ronin had no intention of telling him he had been right.

"I don't scare you, do I?" Ronin stroked the child's hair.

"No," Nod looked up at him, "I'm not a bad thing."

"No, you're not," Ronin pressed his forehead to the boy's, "you're very, very good."

"Then you should keep me," Nod pleaded, "you should always keep good things, like the honey brittle I keep in my cupboard, or Cheep-Cheep."

"I love you forever," Ronin told the boy, "but loving someone doesn't always mean you keep them."

"Why not?" Nod demanded.

"Because loving someone means you do what's best for them," Ronin kissed his forehead, "and sometimes that means not keeping them."

"I don't like that," Nod pouted and rested his head back against Ronin's chest.

"Yeah," Ronin agreed, tucking the boy's head under his chin, "me neither sometimes."


	7. Chapter 7

Nod was sulking in his nest with his favorite blanket pulled over his head when Ronin got home.

"Nod said to tell you he's not coming out ever again," Orla informed Ronin sympathetically, "also that he would like honey brittle for dinner."

It would have been funny if the boy hadn't been so upset.

"Any new plans?" Ronin asked as he put his weapons away and started taking off his armor.

"Today, the plan is to hide out in the rookery for a few months because he can eat the seed they feed the birds, and it will be warm and dry," Orla's lips quirked up just a little, "also so he can throw seed shells at his uncle until he goes away and never comes back."

"That's not the worse plan he's come up with," Ronin nodded, locking the weapons cabinet, "I'm taking tomorrow off, but I need to go in the day after. Will that work for you?"

"That should be fine," Orla nodded.

"I'm sorry the schedule has been so chaotic the last few weeks," Ronin apologized.

"Don't worry about it General," Orla shook her head, "it's good for you to be home with him when you can."

"Thank you for your help," Ronin smiled sincerely.

"It's my pleasure General," Orla returned the smile.

After calling goodbye to Nod, who answered very grumpily from his nest, Orla left for the evening. Ronin pulled off his boots, then went to lean over the back of the couch, looking down at the wiggling blanket.

"I got you something."

Nod peered out from the blanket, giving Ronin a suspicious look.

"You want to see?" Ronin asked.

"What is it?" Nod narrowed his eyes.

"Come sit on the couch with me, and I'll show you," Ronin turned to sit facing the right way.

Nod considered for a moment, then clamored over the back of the couch, dropping down beside Ronin and looking at him expectantly.

"Here," Ronin pulled a small pouch out of his pocket, handing it to the boy.

Nod undid the draw string and shook the contents out into his hand. His face brightened immediately at the sight of the necklace.

"This is for me?" he asked, running his fingers over the pendant on it.

The pendant was a small polished gold disk with a lotus flower etched into it. It was strung on a sturdy woven leather cord.

"It's called a lotus lock," Ronin explained.

"It's shiny," Nod grinned, "and it feels nice."

"I have one too," Ronin pulled his own lotus lock out of his shirt to show him, "my father gave it to me when I enlisted."

"What's 'enlisted' mean?" Nod gave him a curious look.

"It means joining the Leafmen," Ronin explained, reaching back to undo the hook on his own lotus lock.

He handed it to the boy, who turned it over carefully in his hands, comparing the two. Ronin's lotus lock was more ornate, shaped like a lotus flower with a small green stone at the center. He had thought Nod would like something simpler though and more sturdy, as the boy was constantly climbing up things and crawling under them. Ronin hadn't wanted to risk the charm having edges that could catch on things or be easily broken.

"Lotus locks are for protection," Ronin explained, "there's a charm on them that can help keep you safe."

"Like magic?" Nod handed Ronin's lotus lock back to him.

"That's right," Ronin nodded, refastening it around his neck again, "it can't protect you from everything, but it helps."

The magic was why the lotus lock was gold. Gold wasn't a material jinn had much use for. It was hard to get and too soft to be practical. It mostly got used in jewelry. The one thing it was good for though was magic. Gold held and amplified magic better than most materials, and when Ronin had asked for the strongest lotus lock the charm maker could managed, he had known he would end up with a gold one.

"Will it keep bad things away?" Nod fumbled with the clasp, trying to figure out how to put the necklace on by himself.

"Some bad things," Ronin nodded.

Ronin didn't know much about how protection charms worked or much about the mechanics of magic in general. He just didn't have any aptitude for it, but he had had enough close calls and near misses to think the charms really did do something.

"Want some help with that buddy?" Ronin asked.

"Yes," Nod held it out to him, "can I wear it forever?"

"Of course," Ronin looped the necklace around the boy's neck and did the clasp.

"Even in the mud and in the snow and in the bath?" Nod wrapped his hand around the charm once Ronin let go of it.

"Yep," Ronin nodded, "it can get as dirty as you can, and it won't hurt it."

"I'm going to wear it forever then!" Nod lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Ronin's neck.

"I'm glad you like it," Ronin hugged him close.

"Maybe it will keep Uncle Barnet away," Nod settled in Ronin's lap and pulled the charm away from his chest so he could admire it.

Ronin winced, "I don't think that's how they work kiddo."

"But he's a bad thing," Nod angled the charm so it would catch the light.

"What if he's not bad?" Ronin prompted gently.

Nod tipped his face back to give him a sour look, "he's bad. Otherwise he would let me stay."

Ronin was hoping that by that same logic he didn't get put into the 'bad' category as well for making Nod go. He didn't want Nod to stop trusting him.

"Also, I want honey brittle for dinner. I told Miss Orla, and she said you were making dinner, and I want honey brittle," Nod informed him grumpily.

"What if we have grilled mushrooms with flat bread instead?" Ronin suggested, "then we have honey brittle."

"That's not as good," Nod huffed, "it should be the other way. The good stuff should come first."

"I thought you liked grilled mushrooms," Ronin tweaked his nose.

"Not as much as honey brittle," Nod stretched, pushing back against Ronin's chest.

"We have plenty of honey brittle," Ronin gave him a squeeze, "you can have some after dinner."

"Okay," Nod sighed dramatically, then paused and looked up at Ronin uncertainly, "does Uncle Barnet like honey brittle?"

"I don't know," Ronin kissed his head and set him on his feet so he could get up, "you'll have to ask him when he gets here."

For a moment Nod seemed to think this was reasonable, then he scowled, "no, I'm not talking to him ever because I don't want to meet him, and I'm not going with him."

The boy scrambled back over the couch and tumbled down into his nest. Ronin leaned over to see him, giving him an unimpressed look.

Nod stuck his tongue out at him and pulled his blanket back over his head, but he popped out from under it again in less than a minute, rolling onto his back and holding his lotus lock up to the light to admire its shine.

"I'm going to go make dinner," Ronin told him, reaching down to rumple his hair.

"With honey brittle!" Nod called after him as he headed towards the kitchen.

Ronin shook his head. Barnet better like honey brittle, or he was going to be in trouble.

* * *

Packing for Nod proved to be difficult for a number of reasons, most of them not related to the shear amount of things Nod had accumulated since he came to live with Ronin. Every time Nod saw him packing up his things, he got upset and tried to unpack them again. It had turned out to be a slow, painful process for both of them.

Ronin saved Nod's nest behind the couch for the night before Barnet was scheduled to arrive. The child advocates had tried to coax Barnet into staying in Moonhaven for a while to allow Nod to get used to him gradually, but he had refused to stay more than the two days he needed to turn his trade caravan around. He had claimed it would be detrimental to his business to linger too long.

Needless to say, Ronin's misgivings about the man had only grown. Their inquires with Bufo's people hadn't turned anything up. Barnet was a bit cut throat as a businessman, but all of his dealings were legitimate. As uncomfortable as Ronin felt about giving Nod to him, they hadn't found anything that indicated he would be an unfit guardian.

Ronin planned to introduce Nod to him in the afternoon and have the boy stay with him that night. Hopefully being with Barnet in the semi-familiar setting of Moonhaven would help Nod with the transition. Ronin would come by to say his final goodbyes before they left the next day.

"No!" Nod pulled hard on the blanket Ronin was trying to pack, "it's mine! You can't have it!"

"I know it's yours buddy," Ronin held onto the blanket, but didn't pull, "that's why I'm packing it. So you can take it with you."

"No," Nod drew the protest out into a long whine, "it's my nest. It belongs here."

"But this way you can take it with you and rebuild it in your new home with your uncle," Ronin tried to reason.

"No!" Nod sobbed, dropping to the floor, "it goes here!"

Nothing Ronin had said or done seemed to help Nod warm up to the idea of living with his uncle. The boy was doing everything in his power to stop it from happening, but the reality of the situation was that he had to go. Even Ronin's promises to visit as soon as he could get away from the demands of the spring harvest hadn't helped.

"Chickadee," Ronin sat on the floor and pulled the crying boy into his lap, "it's going to be alright. You'll have a new home soon, and you can build your nest there good as new."

Nod buried his face against Ronin's chest and continued to sob. With a soft sigh, Ronin picked him up and sat in the rocking chair, rocking him until he wore himself out and fell asleep. Unfortunately, this had been how most of the last week had gone. Nod wore himself out crying, and Ronin packed while the boy slept.

Once Nod was sleeping, Ronin tucked him into bed and finished packing up his nest, then checked the bag he had packed for him for the trip back to Willowbrook. He had tucked bags of honey brittle into it and made sure that Nod had extra socks and his slippers with the bells.

He had sent Barnet extensive notes and directions, everything he could think of about caring for Nod and helping him when he was upset, all his idiosyncrasies, and a list of the things he and Orla had been working on helping Nod learn. Hopefully, it would be enough for Barnet to pick up where they were leaving off with helping Nod to adjust and continue to improve.

Ronin was just packing the last toy when he heard Nod start to cry in the bedroom. He pushed himself up and went to get him, telling himself that everything was going to get better for the boy soon. He just had to get over this next hurdle of meeting his uncle and making the move.


	8. Chapter 8

The merchants' platform was busy, but that was to be expected this time of year. Moonhaven was a major trade hub, and with the spring thaw, travel routes were open again, clearing the way for merchants to start the year's trade.

Barnet had made sure his caravan arrived on time. Timeliness was important, as was being able to unload and reload the caravan quickly. He hoped having to pick up his great-great nephew wasn't going to slow them down.

Judging by the shear length of the notes General Ronin had sent him, the boy was a handful. Barnet still didn't understand why someone as important as the general of the Leafmen had been reduced to playing nanny for a lost seven year old. He would probably be relieved to have the boy taken off his hands.

Barnet had given the notes to the governess he had hired to care for the boy without reading them. He was hoping to make the return trip quickly and be able to deliver the boy to her care as soon as possible. He had no desire to raise another child, particularly since the death of his wife four decades ago. It was too time consuming and too much work.

Still, the boy was family, and Barnet was apparently the only family he had. Family obligations weren't something that could be lightly ignored, no matter how tedious and unpleasant. He would see to it that the boy was provided for and hope that he wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience.

The general arrived with the child in the afternoon, just as he said he would. The boy wasn't much to look at. He was small for his age, and he clung to the general's neck and refused to look up. He was obviously already crying. Barnet did his best to reign in his irritation. This was going to be an unpleasant trip back to Willowbrook if the boy was already in hysterics.

"Nod," General Ronin bounced the boy on his hip, trying to get him to look up, "this is your Uncle Barnet."

"Thank you for bringing him down General Ronin," Barnet said politely; if the boy wasn't even going to look up, there was no point in greeting him, "it was good of you to look after him for so long."

"It was my pleasure," the general gave him an odd look, then turned his attention back to the crying child, "Nod, it's time to let go. You're staying with your uncle tonight."

"No!" the boy screamed and tightened his hold on the general.

Barnet winced. He would definitely be passing off the child to one of his workers for the night.

"Nod, let go of General Ronin," Barnet told the boy firmly, "he needs to get back to work."

"No!" the boy sobbed, "I'm not going."

"You are," Barnet said, "your belongs have already arrived and been packed onto the wagon, and we leave tomorrow afternoon. There's no sense fussing over it."

The boy's sobs increased in volume, and Barnet heard murmuring from some of the passing merchants. It was obvious the general had been coddling the boy and allowing him to get away with behaving however he wanted. It had probably been easier than trying to discipline him.

The general gave him a displeased look and ducked his head to speak softly into the boy's ear. The child shook his head vigorously, and the general sighed and looked up.

"I think it would be better if Nod spent tonight with me," the general rubbed the child's back, "I'll bring him back tomorrow morning."

While indulging the boy's poor behavior seemed like a bad idea to Barnet, it was too tempting to not have to deal with him for one more night.

"Whatever you think best General Ronin," Barnet tipped his head respectfully, "I'll see you in the morning."

It was a relief when the general left with the crying child. Barnet was not looking forward to the trip home.

Not surprisingly, the general was on time the next morning. He was probably eager to turn the boy over. The child's eyes were red from crying, and he was still sniveling when the general arrived with him in his arms.

"Good morning General Ronin," Barnet greeted.

Nod whimpered and pressed his face into the general's shoulder, tightening his hold on him. He had a stuffed bird held in the crook of one arm, and he almost dropped it in his attempt to cling more securely to the general, but General Ronin caught it, tucking it in his arms again. Barnet managed not to roll his eyes.

"Good morning Lord Barnet," General Ronin greeted, rubbing the boy's back, "Nod didn't have a very good night so he's tired, but if you sit with him someplace quiet for a while he might go down for a nap."

"No," Nod's sobs were muffled against the general's shoulder, "I want to stay with you."

"It will be alright chickadee," the general murmured softly, "I'll come visit as soon as I can."

Barnet vaguely remembered General Ronin mentioning that he would be visiting within the next month or so. He doubted he actually would. The general of the Leafmen had more important things to do than indulge a spoiled child.

"I'm sure we'll be fine general," Barnet said, "thank you for bringing him."

"Of course," General Ronin was giving him the same odd look he had given him the other day.

"Come along Nod," Barnet motioned for the boy to let go, "it's time to let the general go."

"No!" the child screamed.

Several loaders paused to look at them before continuing with their work, and Barnet's eyes narrowed slightly.

"It's time to go with your uncle, chickadee," the general knelt down, setting the boy on his feet.

"I don't want to go!"

The boy's yell caused the beetles harnessed to another merchant's wagon to skitter and shift restlessly, and the merchant gave them an irritated look. Barnet was not particularly amused with the scene the child was making either.

"I know you don't," General Ronin hugged him close, "but it's going to be okay. You'll have a good home with your uncle."

"My home is with you," the child wailed, "I belong to you!"

"No you don't chickadee," the general carefully pried the boy's arms off his neck, "I love you, but you don't belong to me."

"Yes I do!" the boy screamed and tried to grab back onto him, but the general wouldn't let him.

Several merchants stopped what they were doing to stare, and Barnet gave them a pointed glare. The general had obviously been lax in disciplining the boy, and this sort of display was the end result. Hopefully, the governess would be able to correct the problem. Until then, Barnet would have to find some way make sure the child wasn't an embarrassment to him.

"I won't go! I won't! I want to stay with you!" the boy's screams sent more beetles rattling and a few of their handlers turned to glare.

Barnet clenched his fist, then forced himself to relax. There was no point in making it worse by making a scene himself.

"You can't stay with me," General Ronin told him firmly, "you have to go with your uncle."

"But I don't want to," the child sobbed.

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to," the general told him, "that doesn't make them bad."

"Yes it is!" the boy's wail reached a particularly irritating pitch.

"Everything is going to be alright. I'll see you soon, I promise," Ronin stood and pressed a kiss to the boy's hair, "I love you chickadee."

With that the general turned and left. The child screamed for him and tried to follow, and Barnet had to grab the collar of his jacket to stop him. The boy's screams attracted the attention of most of the loading bay. Barnet kept a good grip on his jacket and waited until General Ronin was gone before grabbing the child's arm and pulling him out of sight behind one of his caravan wagons.

"Let go!" the child tried to push him away.

"Quiet," Barnet snapped, releasing him, "you are an embarrassment."

The boy ignored him, hugging his stuffed bird and continuing to sob for the general. The entire fiasco had reached the point of ridiculousness, and Barnet's patience with the situation had reached its end. There was no excuse for a child Nod's age to be carrying on in such a manor.

"Listen to me you sniveling brat," Barnet grasped the boy's chin, forcing him to look up, "I am a merchant of high repute and now that you've been forced on me, you will conduct yourself in a manner that reflects that."

"I don't want to go with you," the boy pushed him away again.

"Well, neither of us have any choice in that," Barnet glared at the child, "you have no one else to take you."

"Ronin will," the boy said defiantly.

"Let me put this simply as you are obviously a simpleton," Barnet explained coolly, "the general does not want you because you are bad. If you continue to be bad, no one will want you."

It was time the child understood the reality of his situation. General Ronin had obviously been pandering to the delusion that the boy could have whatever he wanted no matter how unreasonable.

"But Ronin said…"uncertainly crept into the boy's voice.

"I'm sure the general said a great many things to placate you and keep you quiet," Barnet responded, "that doesn't make them true."

The boy's eyes filled with fresh tears, and he hugged his stuffed bird to himself tightly.

"Now be quiet and do as you're told, or you really will find yourself without a home," Barnet snapped.

Satisfied that the tantrum had been quelled, Barnet strode back around the wagon, leaving the boy there to compose himself. He had a caravan to run; he didn't have time to deal with a hysteric, spoiled child.


	9. Chapter 9

"How did seeing Nod off go?"

"Barnet isn't scheduled to leave until this afternoon," Ronin didn't look up from the reports scattered across his desk.

"Are you going to go see Nod off then?" Finn leaned against the doorframe.

"No," Ronin jotted down a few notes in the margins of a report, "he was upset when I left him. Seeing me will only upset him again. It's better if he gets used to Barnet."

"What did you think of Barnet?" Finn pressed.

"Finn, I have work to do," Ronin sighed.

"You didn't like him," Finn concluded.

"Finn," Ronin snapped.

"You should go see him off when he leaves," Finn insisted, "you'll feel better about it, and even if he's upset, it will be better for him in the long run."

"I don't know what's better for him right now, never mind the long run," Ronin growled, "what I do know is that he has to go with his uncle, and my showing up again isn't going to make that any easier."

"Ronin, if you don't trust him, you need to at least check on Nod one more time," Finn was unfazed by Ronin's show of temper.

"I never said I didn't trust him," Ronin protested.

"If you trusted him you wouldn't be this upset," Finn pointed out.

"I… can't," Ronin closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I had to leave Nod there alone screaming for me and I can't. I'll go see him once he's settled in a few weeks."

"And you're confident Nod will be alright that long?" Finn asked.

"Finn, go away!" Ronin barked.

"Alright," Finn held his hands up in surrender, "but as your best friend, I'm telling you, you should go see him off."

Finn left before Ronin could tell him no again, and Ronin sat staring at his desk for a long time, hands clenched into tight fists to stop them from shaking.

* * *

"Lord Barnet, isn't that boy supposed to be with us?"

Barnet looked up from his clip board, giving the caravan hand an irritated glare.

"He's here somewhere," Barnet said dismissively.

"He's not with any of our wagons sir," the man assured him.

Barnet sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had known the boy was going to be trouble even before he had met him. Maybe he should have brought the governess with them.

"What are you doing right now?" Barnet asked.

"We just finished loading the third wagon sir," the man said, "we're waiting on the textile delivery so we can get the next one loaded."

"Go look for him," Barnet dismissed him with an annoyed wave of his hand, "but be discreet. He's already caused enough of a scene today. I'm sure he's just hiding in the loading bay somewhere."

"Yes sir," the man said and left.

This trip couldn't be over fast enough for Barnet.

* * *

Nod hugged Cheep-Cheep to himself tightly and crouched under the leaves of a crocus. The bad thing was back the way he had come, and he had to get away.

It seemed like… it seemed like he hadn't been here in a long time, like he had been somewhere else, but he knew this place, the green and the growing things and the soft moss under his feet were all familiar.

But hadn't there been something better… a good something… something he had really liked.

No. The good thing was gone. He couldn't have it anymore. He had Cheep-Cheep, and he would find the chickadees. Then he would be okay.

He didn't feel like he would be okay though. He felt like everything was terrible, and he was frightened, and it didn't feel safe at all.

He remembered when things felt bad he was supposed to move. When things felt bad that meant there was something bad nearby, and he should get away. There was a crackle and a rustling of grass in the underbrush, and Nod scrambled back, crawling under a tree root and hiding.

A weasel came out of the grass and sniffed the air, and Nod held very still, holding tight to Cheep-Cheep and wrapping his hand around the charm on his necklace. It was warm, and it tingled against his palm. He felt better when he held onto it. It was an important necklace, and it made things better somehow.

The weasel looked around, then continued on its way. Nod waited until he couldn't hear it to move, but he didn't come out of his hiding spot.

He wanted… he wanted… he didn't know what he wanted, but he knew he couldn't have it. He sat down in the dirt under the tree root, pressing his face against Cheep-Cheep, and cried.


	10. Chapter 10

"Sir, we can't find him anywhere," the caravan hand reported.

Barnet gave him an irritated look.

"No one has seen him since the general dropped him off," the man continued, "that was six hours ago sir. We should alert the Leafmen that he's missing and get help looking for him."

"That won't be necessary," Barnet said curtly.

The caravan was scheduled to leave in an hour and a half. He wasn't going to risk being late, or worse being stuck in Moonhaven an extra night, because of a whiny child.

"I'm sure he's hiding in the loading bay somewhere," Barnet told him, "if you haven't found him by the time we leave, you can stay behind. He'll come out as soon as we're gone, and you can grab him and catch up."

The man hesitated, then nodded, "yes sir."

* * *

The queen had sent a message to Ronin, asking him to come to her meeting chamber. Ronin was suspicious, but he couldn't ignore a summons from the queen.

"General," Tara greeted him as he came in, "how are you doing?"

For a moment Ronin was looking at one of his oldest friends, the woman he had grown up with and almost been engaged to, and he nearly answered her honestly, that he was terrible, and he wanted nothing more than to go snatch Nod back from the idiot he had had to leave him with, but he couldn't, because he didn't have anything substantial to back up his feeling of dread about the whole situation.

"I'm well your majesty," Ronin bowed, tucking his helmet under his arm.

Tara huffed quietly in irritation, "how was Nod? How did he take being left with his uncle?"

"Not well," Ronin forced his voice to stay even, "he was up all night crying, and he started screaming when I left him."

"I thought he was spending last night with Barnet," Tara cocked her head to the side.

"I… thought it best if he stayed with me one more night," Ronin tightened his grip on his helmet.

"Hmm," Tara folded her arms, "what is your honest opinion of Lord Barnet, general?"

"He…" Ronin hesitated, "I have no evidence that he won't be a competent caregiver."

"That not what I asked Ronin," the queen said.

"I… don't like him," Ronin admitted, "he wasn't very gentle with Nod yesterday or this morning when I dropped him off."

"You don't feel like this is the right thing to do," Tara concluded.

"It doesn't matter what I feel," Ronin shook his head, "I don't have any evidence that this isn't right."

"If you were on patrol, and you felt like there was something wrong, would you check, even if the area had already been swept?" Tara asked.

"Of course," Ronin said without hesitation.

"Then why don't you trust your instincts now?" she demanded.

"I…" Ronin hesitated again, "I'm not exactly objective about this. Nod is so unhappy, and I hate seeing him that way."

"Of course you do," Tara gave him an exasperated look, "that doesn't mean you're wrong. You still have time to check on Nod before they leave, don't you?"

"Did Finn talk to you?" Ronin demanded.

"I haven't spoken to Captain Finn since the day before yesterday," Tara didn't quite manage to not look amused, "but you do have time, don't you?"

"Yes your majesty," Ronin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I'll go see him off."

"Very good general," Tara nodded, "I trust your judgment in this."

Ronin wished he had as much faith in his judgment as the queen did, but he wasn't sure he could trust himself to do what was best for Nod in the long run and not just what was easier for both of them in the moment.

* * *

Barnet's workers were just loading the last wagon when Ronin reached the merchant's bay. Ronin didn't hear Nod screaming or crying, and he was relieved for the entire half second it took him to spot Barnet standing beside his last wagon with a clip board, checking items off as they were loaded. Nod wasn't with him. Ronin did a quick scan of the caravan, but he didn't spot Nod anywhere near it.

His stomach twisted, and he hurried down into the bay.

"Barnet," Ronin growled.

The man jumped, nearly dropping his clip board, "General Ronin. I didn't expect to see you again."

"Where's Nod?" the general demanded.

"He's in the loading bay," Barnet fingered his clip board nervously.

"Where?" Ronin repeated sharply.

"I… we… aren't entirely sure," Barnet admitted reluctantly, "I have people looking for him."

"He's missing?" Ronin's hands clenched into fists, "how long?"

"He…" Barnet swallowed, taking a step back, "he failed to stay where I told him to this morning."

"He… this…" Ronin gapped at him.

Ronin rarely lost his temper anymore, although he had been somewhat infamous for doing so in his youth. A long military career had managed to help him get a solid grip on his emotions, but sometimes…

"What sort of idiot are you!" Ronin yelled, "he's seven and he's terrified. Of course, he didn't stay put. How could you not report him missing? It's been almost seven hours since I dropped him off! What the hell is wrong with you?"

The entire merchants' bay stopped to stare, but Barnet was much more concerned with his physical well being at the moment than his reputation.

"No need to worry general," Barnet tried to calm him, "I'm sure he's here somewhere. Young children do like to play games of hide and seek after all."

"Playing!" Ronin towered over the man, "are you out of your mind? Of course he's not playing, and he's sure as hell not here. It's crowded and it's noise and it's everything he hates."

"Well, how could I possibly know…" Barnet protested.

"Did you pay attention to anything I said to you at all?" Ronin barked, "and you're still loading your wagons like nothing is wrong. Were you planning on leaving without him?"

"Well, I have people who…" Barnet tried to explain.

"People?" Ronin advanced on him, fists clenched, "you have people…"

Suddenly Finn was at his side, so close their shoulders were touching, "what's the problem general?"

"He lost Nod," Ronin spat, shifting back ever so slightly.

"What?" Finn looked at him in alarm.

"He's been missing since this morning, and he didn't report it," Ronin glowered at the merchant.

"What is wrong with you?" Finn demanded of Barnet.

"Now see here," Barnet managed to find his tongue, "I have a schedule to keep, and I can't be expected to…"

"A schedule!" Ronin took a quick, threatening step forward and Barnet cowered back.

Finn shifted his weight, subtly brushing his fingers against Ronin's wrist without quite grabbing. Ronin stopped and forced himself to take a breath.

"General, if you start getting the search parties organized, I can take care of things here," Finn suggested.

"I'm sure he'll turn up shortly," Barnet offered nervously.

"Shut up," Finn snapped.

Barnet swallowed.

"Get out," Ronin growled at him, "I want you out of Moonhaven by the time I get back. You're not taking Nod with you. Not now, not ever. You're not fit to shovel beetle dung, never mind take care of a child."

Ronin stormed out of the merchants' bay, barking orders to the Leafmen who had trickled in to see what their general was yelling about.

"I'll just…" Barnet tried to back away.

"Unpack Nod's things," Finn ordered evenly.

"What?" Barnet gave him a blank look, "they were the first thing we loaded. Surely you don't mean to have me unload an entire…"

"I would do it quickly if I were you," Finn advised coolly, "you don't want to still be here when the general gets back."

Barnet swallowed, then started shouting shrill orders to his men to unpack the front wagon.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Lady_Douji on AO3 has created an AU to this series where Nod is in his early teens when Ronin finds him (there are some other differences as well). If you'd like to see Barnet emerge from his encounter with Nod somewhat worse for wear, then you should check it out.

* * *

The boy crouched low, holding his chickadee tight. The forest was full of noises he didn't recognize, and hummingbirds kept flying overhead, going fast like something was chasing them. The forest was full of bad things, and he needed to find a place to hide.

He couldn't hide up high though like he wanted to because the hummingbirds were carrying the bad things, and they might see him. He had to find someplace on the ground to hide, but the hiding places on the ground where tricky because bad things liked to hide in them too.

The boy sat on the ground under the shelter of a fern and sniffled, pulling out his necklace to look at it. He liked to look at it. It had a pretty flower on it and it was shinny. Looking at it made him feel less sad and so did holding his chickadee.

A hummingbird came very close to his hiding spot, making lots of noises that hummingbirds weren't supposed to make and the boy curled up tight around his chickadee and held onto his necklace and was very quiet. It was important that he was quiet. Being quiet kept the bad things from finding him.

After the hummingbird left, he crawled carefully from his spot. It wasn't a good spot to hide. The bad things would find him there. He had to find a better hiding spot before it got dark. Then maybe tomorrow he could go… he could go…

The boy sat down where he was and started to cry again even though he didn't really understand why. His chickadee and his shiny necklace weren't what he wanted, and he didn't know what he wanted, but he didn't want to be here anymore. He wanted to be somewhere else, but he didn't know where or why.

He cried until a noise scared him, and he scrambled to his feet, running away from it as fast as he could. Everything was bad and it wouldn't ever be good again, he was sure of it.

* * *

"I'm pulling units as they come in from patrol to go back out into the forest to search," Finn folded his arms across his chest, "and Captain Dag has pulled in his auxiliary guards to search Moonhaven proper. No one has found anything yet."

They had been searching for nearly three hours, and it was nearing nightfall. They wouldn't stop the search because it was dark, but they would be unlikely to find Nod before morning if they didn't find him soon.

Finn had caught up with the search party Ronin was with and sent them on ahead to keep looking while he and Ronin evaluated where they were at and what their next step needed to be.

"He's not there," Ronin shook his head wearily, "he's in the forest somewhere. We need to broaden our search perimeter. I know he's small, but he can move fast, and he knows how to travel in the woods. He's got to be frightened, so he'll be hiding. It could be weeks before we find him if he really is trying to hide from us, and who knows what sort of trouble he'll get into in that time."

"We find him before that," Finn tried to reassure him, "he's a smart kid, and he knows where home is."

"No he doesn't," Ronin clenched his hands, "he didn't want to go, and I said he had to. He doesn't know he still has a home. I never should have let Barnet take him. I knew he was the wrong person to care for Nod."

Tara had been right. He should have trusted his instincts and demanded that the child advocates do more to make sure Barnet would care for Nod properly. It probably wouldn't have taken more than fifteen minutes of observing him interacting with Nod to know he wasn't a fit guardian.

"We'll find him," Finn repeated firmly, "he's going to be fine, even if he is in the woods."

"I just wish…" Ronin tapered off with a frown, raising his head to listen.

Finn cocked his head to the side, listening as well, his hand dropping to the hilt of his sword. Ever so faintly, he could hear sniffling. Ronin pointed to mossy hollow running under the roots of a tree not far from them and Finn nodded, signaling that he would watch the opening on the other side of the roots while Ronin approached the closer one.

Ronin waited until Finn was in position, then ducked down cautiously to see into the narrow space. It was hard to see in the twilight, but he caught a startled jerk of movement, and lunged to try and catch him.

He caught an ankle, and Nod screamed, kicking at his hand, trying to twist to bite at him. Ronin ignored the struggling and pulled the boy out of the hollow. Nod immediately turned on him, growling as he tried to scratch and bite him.

"Nod, it's me; it's Ronin," Ronin managed to turn the boy, getting an arm around his waist and pulling him back against him, "you're safe; it's me."

Nod wailed and kicked his feet, trying desperately to escape back into the hollow. Finn jogged along the length of the root, jumping down to crouch in front of them. Nod screamed louder and redoubled his efforts to escape back to his hiding place.

"Nod…." Ronin narrowly missed getting hit in the head by a bony little elbow.

Finn frowned and ducked down, reaching into the hollow and feeling around until he felt material. He pulled out Nod's stuffed chickadee and offered it to him. The boy lunged for it, nearly jerking free of Ronin's hold, and snatched it to himself, hugging it tightly.

"Chickadee, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Ronin asked.

Nod growled and twisted to push against Ronin's chest as hard as he could, and when that didn't work he sunk his teeth into Ronin's bicep. The boy had an impressive bite, but he couldn't get through Ronin's armor.

"Nod stop," Ronin turned the child to face him, "it's me; we're going home."

Nod looked up at him, and for a moment seemed to understand, then his expression fell, and he tried to kick him and break free again.

"Nod?" Ronin frowned at the lack of recognition, "you don't have to go with Barnet, I promise. You're coming home with me."

When the boy realized his efforts to escape weren't working, he started to sob loudly, his tiny body shaking with the force of it. He hugged Cheep-Cheep tight and pressed his face against him.

"It's okay, chickadee," Ronin cooed, scooping him up to cradle against his chest, "everything is going to be okay."

Nod curled around his stuffed chickadee, crying inconsolably, and Ronin ducked his head to press his face against the boy's hair, rocking with him. He felt like crying as well, partly in relief, but mostly out of worry. Nod was acting the way he had when Ronin had first found him, like he didn't know Ronin at all.

"Ronin," Finn touched his shoulder gently, "you better get him home. I'll call in the search parties."

Ronin nodded and stood, the sobbing boy still held against his chest, "thank you."

It was well past time to get his little chickadee home.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's note: Lady Douji has posted the third chapter of _Wild Child_ here on fanficiton dot net. So if you'd like to see Barnet emerge from his first meeting with Nod worse for wear, go take a look.

* * *

Ronin had nothing for Nod, no pajamas, no clothes, no sippy cups, no toys. He had packed everything to send with him, and he doubted Barnet had cared enough to unload them from his caravan before he left.

It was a struggle to bathe Nod, more so than the first time Ronin had done it. At every chance the boy tried to escape. It needed to be done though. Nod was filthy, and Ronin needed to check him over for injuries. He had a few scrapes and bruises, but he didn't look as if he had any serious injuries that would require a trip to the healers'.

More concerning was Nod's completely lack of comprehension. He didn't seem to understand anything Ronin said to him, and he fought and struggled as if he didn't recognize Ronin at all.

Ronin finally had to sit on the bathroom floor and pin Nod in his lap to try and keep him still long enough to dry him. He was so focused on trying to hold onto the boy, that he was caught completely off guard when Nod sunk his teeth into his forearm, drawing blood.

"Ouch!" Ronin jumped and jerked his arm away.

Nod jumped as well, jerking back to look up at Ronin in surprise, as if he hadn't expected that to happen. The child's expression quickly crumbled to one of horror and fear, and he stopped struggling, instead dissolving into heavy tears. He sat on Ronin's lap, shoulders heaving with his sobs.

"I'm sorry I yelled chickadee," Ronin tried to sooth him, bundling him up in the towel he had been trying to dry him with, "I'm not angry, I promise. Everything is alright."

The boy continued to cry, and Ronin leaned back against the bathroom wall, bringing his knees up so he could curl around the child protectively. Nod didn't struggle or try to escape again, instead curling into himself and grabbing onto his lotus lock with one hand.

"I'm so sorry chickadee," Ronin whispered, curling more tightly around the child, "I'm here now. I have you."

Ronin wasn't sure how long he sat on the floor with Nod, but eventually the boy's sobs ran down to silent tears, and his thumb found its way into his mouth. Ronin finally picked them both up off the floor and got Nod into one of his shirts. The boy had filled out considerably since Ronin had found him, but Ronin's shirt was still huge on him, and he looked lost in it.

All the fight seemed to have gone out of Nod. He sat on Ronin's lap in the rocking chair, curled around his stuffed chickadee as he cried quietly. Ronin didn't know what else to do but hold him. He didn't want food, he didn't want juice, he cried harder when Ronin put him down, but was despondent when Ronin held him.

The boy was obviously exhausted, but he was fighting sleep as hard as he could. He shifted restlessly, as if he couldn't get comfortable, sometimes crying harder and sometimes settling for a bit. When a knock came at the door, he whimpered and curled more tightly around Cheep-Cheep.

Ronin sighed tiredly. He didn't want to get up and risk disturbing Nod, he didn't want to deal with any emergencies, he didn't want to be general, just for tonight. He just wanted to stay with Nod until he was alright again.

"Come in," he called.

"I have his things," Finn let himself in, directing the couriers who were with him to set the bags down.

Ronin relaxed and wrapped his arms a little more snuggly around Nod, who was trying to shrink down into an increasingly smaller ball in his lap. After the couriers left, Finn came to crouch next to the arm of the chair, looking up at the boy.

"How are you doing little man?" he reached out to stroke one of Nod's bare feet, and the boy sniffled, watching him warily.

"He's not talking, he won't eat, he won't sleep," Ronin stroked the boy's hair, "all he's done is cry."

"Got yourself so worn out you can't sleep, huh kiddo," Finn continued to stroke his foot, his voice pitched low and soothing, "have you checked him for injuries?"

"Nothing that needs attention," Ronin shook his head, "but something's not right. He's like he was when I first found him. It's like he doesn't recognize me or understand anything I say."

"He might just need some time to settle down and a good night's sleep," Finn offered quietly, "but I can get Glory here tonight if you think he needs her."

"No," Ronin shook his head, "I'll take him tomorrow. I don't want to get him riled up again if I can help it."

"Then how about we get your jammies and get you all nice and comfy," Finn patted Nod's foot and stood.

Ronin sometimes forgot that Finn had lived most of his life with small children underfoot. He didn't coo or fuss over them, but he always seems to know how to put them at ease.

"The blue ones are his favorite if you can find them," Ronin started rocking again, and Nod let his head fall to rest against Ronin's chest.

"He has a favorite blanket too, doesn't he?" Finn started digging through bags.

"It's blue knit," Ronin nodded, "with fringe and a bird embroidered in the corner."

It took a few minutes of searching, but Finn eventually found both the pajamas and the blanket.

"You're not coming in tomorrow," Finn didn't make it a question as he handed over the pajamas and set the blanket on the couch.

"No," Ronin hugged Nod a little closer, "I might try to come in the day after though. It will probably be good for Nod to get back into his routine, and I need to talk with the queen and Glory to figure out what we do next."

"I already notified them of what happened," Finn brushed a finger over Nod's toe, and the boy wiggled it, "I can't imagine Glory will let him be moved any time soon, but Queen Tara has probably already notified the Child Advocacy Commission about it."

It was a relief that the likely hood of Nod being moved was small. Ronin would have fought tooth and nail to keep him at this point, not because he thought this was the best place for Nod long term, but because he knew it would be awful for the boy to be placed with strangers right now.

"Thanks for everything Finn," Ronin said sincerely.

"Yep," Finn patted his shoulder, "you just take care of your chickadee; I'll take care of the rest."

Ronin waited until Finn was gone before setting Nod on his feet and getting him into his pajamas. Once in his pajamas, the boy stood looking around, as if he wasn't really sure where he was, then picked up the blanket Finn had left on the couch, unfolding it tentatively.

"You want to try going to bed buddy?" Ronin asked, placing a hand on the child's back.

Nod ignored him, setting Cheep-Cheep on the couch to wrap the blanket around his shoulders, then picking his stuffed chickadee back up. He walked to the end of the couch and peered behind it. Ronin hadn't bothered to move the couch back into place, and it was still angled away from the wall. The boy stood looking at the empty space behind it and chirped sadly.

"We'll rebuild your nest, okay buddy," Ronin knelt down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

Nod continued to coo sadly, and Ronin got up to find the bag with his blankets and futon. When he came back, he found Nod sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and his blanket wrapped around him. Ronin set everything down and leaned over to kiss Nod's head, then slid the futon mattress behind the couch.

Nod took no interest in what Ronin was doing, instead staying curled on the floor and sniffling. After a few minutes, he turned and crawled under the couch, dragging his blanket with him. Ronin frowned and left off piling up blankets and pillows for Nod to arrange when he was ready and ducked his head to see him. The child was laying down under his blanket, Cheep-Cheep under his arm and thumb in his mouth.

Ronin sighed softly and slid a pillow under for him, then moved the coffee table out of the way so he could lay down on the floor next to the couch. He folded his arm under his head and watched the sleepy child. Nod ignored the pillow, continuing to suck his thumb and stare at Ronin.

Eventually, the boy's eyes began to drift shut. Just as he was drifting off, he reached out a hand and laid it on the ground near Ronin. Ronin covered it with his own hand, continuing to hold it gently long after the boy had fallen asleep.

* * *

It was hours before Ronin finally fell asleep himself, Nod's hand still resting under his.

Shuffling woke Ronin in the dark hours of the morning. Nod had wiggled his way out from under the couch and was cautiously pressing up against Ronin's chest. Ronin wrapped his arm around him, tucking him in close and making sure he was covered with his blanket. The boy shifted until he was comfortable, then went back to sleep.

"I love you chickadee," Ronin whispered softly, pressing a kiss to the boy's hair, then going back to sleep himself.


	13. Chapter 13

It was mid-morning the next time Ronin woke. Nod had rolled over in his sleep and curled up around Cheep-Cheep, thumb still in his mouth and head resting on Ronin's arm. Ronin stayed still for a while, listening to the boy's quiet snores.

His biggest hope for the day was that Nod would be back to himself when he woke up, talking and recognizing Ronin and his surroundings. Ronin was going to need to find time to contact Orla and see if she was still available to be Nod's nanny, and depending on how Nod was doing, he would need to make the decision to either bring Nod down to the healers ward for a check-up, or have Glory make a house call.

If he was behaving anything like last night, Glory would have to come to them, but Ronin was desperately hoping Nod would be doing better when he woke up. He had been doing so well and made so much progress, that it was heartbreaking to think he might be back to where he had started because of Barnet's incompetency.

It was good Finn had been there yesterday, and it was good Barnet had left, because Nod needed Ronin here and not in jail for maiming the man.

Ronin sat up, carefully lifting Nod into his arms. The boy stirred restlessly and whimpered, arms tightening around his stuffed chickadee. Ronin held him until he quieted again, then laid him on the couch, putting a pillow under his head and tucking an extra blanket around him. Nod continued to shift restlessly, and Ronin stroked his hair until he settled, then got up to make breakfast.

The acorn mash had just started simmering when a scream came from the living room. Ronin dropped the spoon on the floor and ran out of the kitchen.

Nod was sitting up on the couch, stuffed chickadee in his arms, screaming as loudly as he could. He spotted Ronin and froze for a moment, staring at him as if he was surprised to see him, then started to cry.

"What's wrong chickadee?" Ronin hurried to the boy's side.

Nod continued to cry, ignoring Ronin and hugging Cheep-Cheep tight. Ronin sat beside him, putting a hand on his back, only to have the boy snatch up his pillow and hit Ronin with a disgruntled whine, then go back to crying.

Ronin blinked. That wasn't quite what he had expected. Apparently, Nod didn't want to be held.

"How about some breakfast buddy?" Ronin tried, brushing back Nod's hair cautiously.

The boy pushed his hand away with a scowl and squirmed away from him, disappearing under the couch.

"Okay," Ronin stood slowly, "I'm going to go get breakfast off the stove before it burns, then we'll find your sippy cups."

Ronin started to walk away, only to have Nod scream again and scramble out from under the couch, throwing himself at his leg and wrapping his arms and legs around it.

"Or you can come with me," Ronin looked down at him in confusion.

Nod pressed his face to Ronin's leg and refused to look at him. Ronin stared down at him for a moment, then went to salvage their burning breakfast with Nod sitting on his foot the whole way.

* * *

Nod ate breakfast with his fingers and got acorn mash in Ronin's hair when he was cleaning him up in the bathroom afterwards, then ran away and hid under the bed in nothing but his undershorts. Ronin decided to let him stay there, nudging a blanket under in case he got cold. He wasn't really sure what to make of Nod's behavior, so he decided for now the best thing was to let him be.

While Nod hid under the bed, Ronin started unpacking and putting away his things. He really owed Finn for getting everything back from Barnet. Nod had collected a lot of belongings during his stay with Ronin, and he had favorite toys and clothes that would have been difficult to replace.

Nod had been wearing his jacket with the buckles the day before, and it was filthy now. Ronin hid it at the bottom of the laundry hamper in the hopes of Nod not finding it until it was clean again. As he turned back, he almost tripped over the boy in question. Nod was still in his undershorts and had knotted the blanket around his shoulders. He stared up at Ronin sullenly.

"You want to put some clothes on buddy?" Ronin asked.

Nod stared at him for a moment longer, then smacked him in the leg with Cheep-Cheep and sat back down on his foot.

Ronin caught himself before he could scold Nod. While it was important that Nod not hit or bite people, the boy didn't seem to be in any shape to understand what Ronin was telling him, and scolding him would probably only upset him more than he already was and accomplish nothing.

Ronin went back to putting things away with Nod sitting on his foot. Eventually, he came across the green booties with the bells tied to them. Nod released his leg and jumped up, bouncing and whining in his effort to get them.

"Here you go chickadee," Ronin handed them to him.

The boy sat on the floor shaking them and turning them over in his hands, looking puzzled. Ronin watched him with growing concern. Nod knew how to put his shoes on, but it was like he didn't quite recognize what they were. After sniffing at them, he put them on his hands and wiggled them, head cocked to the side thoughtfully. Then he pulled them off and put them on his feet, thumping his heels on the ground to make them jingle.

"Good job kiddo," Ronin reached down to rumple his hair.

Nod was so distracted by making the booties jingle that he forgot to push Ronin's hand away.

"You want to maybe get dressed now?" Ronin held a pair of pants out to him.

Nod ignored him, hopping up to his feet and marching over to the piles of bags with exaggerated steps to make sure the bells rang. Ronin shook his head and laughed softly, going back to unpacking. Nod followed right on his heels back and forth to the bedroom to put away his clothes, lifting his knees high with each step so his slippers jingled.

Ronin had rearranged his chest of drawers months ago to make room for Nod's clothes as well, and Nod knew where they were kept. Ronin was hoping he would decide to put some on soon. It wasn't that cold, but it was still a little chilly to be running around in just his undershorts. Ronin finally came across the bag with Nod's other stuffed animals, and when Nod realized what it was, he growled at Ronin and snatched at the strap, trying to pull it away from him.

Ronin let him have it, crouching down in front of him and watching worriedly as he pulled the stuffed animals out, sniffing at them, then cuddling them close and making the noises that went with them.

"Nod, which one is Ribbit?" Ronin asked.

The boy scowled at him, gathering all the stuffed toys up into his arms and trying to turn away so Ronin couldn't reach them.

"You can hold onto them," Ronin reassured him, "but can you show me Ribbit?"

Nod continued to glare at him, arms full of stuffed animals.

With a troubled sigh, Ronin sat on the ground in front of him, hands resting on his knees.

The last escape scheme Nod had come up with before Barnet's arrival had been a complicated plan involving he and his menagerie of stuffed animals running away from Barnet and coming back to live under Ronin's bed. It had required that his stuffed bumblebee steal honey, and his frog making it into honey brittle so they would have enough food to get back to Moonhaven, and Cheep-Cheep, who apparently knew where everything in the forest was, was going to show them how to get to Ronin's bed without anyone seeing them, and they were going to live under it until Barnet got eaten by a fox.

Ronin had no idea why Nod was so sure Barnet would be eaten by a fox, but he had been adamant about it, and Ronin certainly wished now that Barnet had been eaten by one, preferably before he had ever reached Moonhaven.

All of that aside, two days ago, Nod had been telling him complicated narratives, and now he didn't seem to even recognize the names of his stuffed animals, or any other words. Ronin wasn't even sure he recognized his own name.

Ronin rubbed his eyes worriedly. He really needed to get Nod checked out by Glory. He would have to find time to send her a message and have her come to them. There was no doubt in Ronin's mind now that taking Nod to the healers ward would only result in chaos and trauma, and Nod had had enough of that in the last few days to last him a lifetime.

Ronin opened his eyes in surprise when Nod climbed into his lap. The boy settled himself there, kicking his heels against the ground so his slippers jingled and arranging his stuffed animals on the floor in front of them. Ronin wrapped his arms around him tentatively, and the boy leaned back against his chest, picking up his frog and making him hop along Ronin's arms while he ribbited.

Ronin squeezed him gently, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his hair. He was going to find a way to help Nod get back to where he had been, no matter what it took.

Nod picked up his caterpillar, and it crawled along Ronin's knee, apparently in hot pursuit of the frog. When the frog got too far up Ronin's arm for Nod to reach, he turned on Ronin's lap so the frog could jump up on his shoulder. The boy pressed a thoughtless kiss to Ronin's cheek before leaping his frog up to his head.

Ronin laughed softly and returned the kiss, "love you."

The caterpillar made it to Ronin's shoulder and the frog jumped off the other side, and Ronin sat on the floor and let Nod play.


	14. Chapter 14

Nod screamed suddenly, making Ronin jump. He looked down at the boy who had been sitting on his foot while he folded clothes to put away, and Nod looked up at him for a moment, then held his arms up as if he wanted to be held, but as soon as Ronin picked him up, he started to squirm restlessly and cry.

"Buddy, I don't know what you need," Ronin set the boy on his feet on the bed, "are you hungry?"

Ronin tried the sign for hungry; maybe signing would work where words weren't. The boy continued to cry.

"Thirsty?" Ronin tried that sign as well.

Nod plopped down in the middle of the pile of folded clothes, sobbing and holding onto Cheep-Cheep.

"Maybe naptime," Ronin raised his eyebrows.

Nod had eaten lunch not that long ago and gotten bits of boiled cattail all over his blanket. He had thrown a fit when Ronin had taken it off to put into the clothes hamper. It had taken the offer of seed cake to calm him down, and he was back to just being in his under short and slippers, not at all interested in getting dressed.

The boy probably could use a nap if Ronin could get him to sleep. Stress had always worn Nod out, and he was certainly stressed.

Nod grabbed a handful of clothes and threw them at Ronin with a high pitched whine, frustrated that Ronin didn't know what he wanted, or maybe just frustrated in general. Ronin caught his wrist gently when he tried to throw a second round.

"No throwing," Ronin said calmly, taking the sweater from Nod's grasp.

Nod looked up at him in surprise, then started crying again.

"Chickadee, I really wish I knew how to help you," Ronin sat on the bed beside him, rubbing his back.

Nod sniffled and rubbed his arm across his eyes, looking around the room unhappily. Suddenly, he lunged across Ronin's lap with a whine, reaching for the sweater Ronin was still holding. Ronin let him have it. Nod stayed sprawled across Ronin's lap, sniffing at the sweater and rubbing his cheek against it, cooing softly.

It was actually one of his favorite sweaters. It was fox-red and had a hood with black tipped ears on it. Maybe it was a good sign that he seemed to recognize it. Nod examined it, turning it over in his hands, feet kicking in the air and slippers jingling. He came across the hood with the ears and gave a happy little fox whine.

"Do you want to wear that Nod?" Ronin rested a cautious hand on his back.

The boy continued to play with it for a moment longer, then rolled onto his back and held it up to Ronin.

"Sit up for me," Ronin took the sweater from him and sat him up.

Nod held his arms above his head expectantly, and Ronin grinned, putting the sweater on him. The boy sat cross-legged for a few minutes, examining his arms in the sleeves. He pulled his hands into the sleeves and made little puppets out of them, then reached back and fumbled to get his hood up. Ronin helped him set it straight on his head.

Nod looked around the room again, as if it looked different now that he had his hood up, then slid off the bed with a fox bark and crawled under it, taking Cheep-Cheep with him.

Ronin shook his head in amazement and went back to folding clothes.

* * *

Nod had been quiet for almost half an hour, and Ronin ducked down to check on him under the bed. He found the boy asleep, thumb in his mouth and other hand wrapped around his lotus lock. He was using his stuffed chickadee as a pillow. If he hadn't been so worried about waking him and electing another round of screaming, Ronin would have pulled him out and tucked him into bed where he would have been more comfortable.

Instead, Ronin took advantage of the nap to go to his study and write both Glory and Orla. Hopefully, Glory would be able to help Ronin figure out Nod's strange behavior and how to help him, plus she should have met with a member of the Child Advocacy Commission by now and would know more about what their thoughts were for Nod's future.

The Child Advocacy Commission was an organization commissioned by the queen and charged with the welfare of any child who didn't have a family or guardian. Orphaned children without relatives automatically became wards of the crown, as did children who had relatives incapable of taking them, and it was the commission's responsibility to place them permanently with a family. There generally wasn't any shortage of families who were willing to adopt children, so it was just a matter of finding the family that would be best for the child.

Ronin knew Nod had been assigned two advocates when he had been found, but he hadn't had any direct contact with them yet. Nod's situation and condition were completely unheard of, so the advocates had been relying heavily on Glory's recommendations for how they proceeded with him. Glory had recommended that Nod be kept with Ronin, and the advocates hadn't seen any need to dispute that.

Ronin would need to start meeting with them soon though. He wanted to make sure he had a say in when and how Nod was placed with his new family. He also wanted a say in who that family was. After what had happened with Barnet, Ronin wasn't willing to trust Nod to a stranger again.

With that in mind, Ronin picked up his quill to start a letter to Nod's advocates. He would also need to submit an official report on Nod going missing the day before. Finn would probably file one, but Ronin had been the one who had dealt with Barnet most directly, and he had headed the search parties. He also wanted to make sure that the Commission had Barnet officially declared an unfit guardian.

Ronin still couldn't believe the man hadn't thought it necessary to report that a seven year old had gone missing. Actually, he couldn't believe Barnet hadn't realized he needed to keep a close eye on a child who was obviously extremely distraught by the entire transition, and Barnet hadn't even seemed to care…

Ronin grumbled in frustration when he realized he had blotted ink all over his letter. He dropped his quill in the ink jar and crumpled the paper up, tossing it irritable across the room in the direction of his trash can.

He should have had the bastard arrested and held on charges of child neglect, but if Barnet had stayed, Ronin might have beaten him to a pulp. He would have to leave it up to the advocates to decide if they wanted to charge him with anything. It wasn't like they didn't know where he would be. Barnet appeared far too fond of his wealth to leave it any time soon.

Just as Ronin was picking up another sheet of paper, he heard shuffling in the hall.

"I'm in the study chickadee," he called.

Nod appeared in the doorway, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Did you have a good nap buddy?"Ronin asked.

Nod blinked at him, then started scolding him with angry chirps and whistles.

"I don't know if that's a yes or a no," Ronin held his arms out to him.

Nod trotted over to him and climbed into his lap facing him, continuing to scold.

"I know you're upset kiddo," Ronin tucked Nod's hair under his hood and out of his eyes, "I'm just not sure how to make it better."

Nod huffed and folded his arms across his chest with a pout.

"We've still got a while until dinner, but how about a snack?" Ronin tried, giving the sign for food, "we have some strawberry dumplings left."

The boy continued to pout at him.

"Let's try dumplings," Ronin stood up, taking Nod with him.

Nod ate his fruit dumplings sitting sullenly on the kitchen counter. When Ronin tried to put away the box, the boy snatched it back from him and jumped down, running down the hall with it. Nod seemed to have forgotten he had a cupboard to keep his food in. The boy seemed to have forgotten an alarming number of things, and Ronin could only hope Glory would be able to make it over soon.


	15. Chapter 15

"Well, I can't really check on him unless you get him out from under the bed," Glory pointed out.

"I know, he just…" Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose.

There was a steady growling coming from under Ronin's bed. Nod had fled there at the sound of the door and nearly bitten Ronin when he had tried to get him out.

"You haven't noticed any physical injuries?" the healer asked.

"He's a little scratched up, but nothing that looks serious" Ronin told her, "just… this…"

Ronin motioned helplessly to the bed.

"Hmmm," Glory folded her arms thoughtfully, "maybe we should go talk in the living room for a while."

"He's probably not going to come out on his own while you're here," Ronin cautioned.

"I know," Glory said cheerfully, "I'm just giving you some time to rest before I make you drag him out from under the bed."

Ronin glared at her.

"Plus, I want to know more about what you think is wrong," Glory added.

"I have no idea," Ronin shook his head, "that's the problem."

"Then tell me what he's doing," Glory motioned him out of the bedroom, and they headed back to the living room, leaving Nod to settle down.

Ronin described Nod's behavior since finding him in as much detail as he could. Glory listened attentively, foot tapping slightly.

"It sounds like he's regressed to where he was when you found him," Glory said when he had finished.

"It's worse than that," Ronin insisted, "when I first found him, he was frightened sometimes, but he wasn't constantly upset, and he wasn't erratic like this."

"He's angry at you," Glory looked almost amused.

"Yeah, probably," Ronin admitted.

"That's actually a good sign," the healer smiled, "it means he remembers you, at least in some way."

"I wish he remembered something besides that," Ronin grumbled.

"Hopefully, he will eventually," Glory shrugged, "we can't do much about it until he does. Why don't you go try to grab him? I'll wait here. That might help a little."

"Doubtful," Ronin pushed himself up.

Glory waited on the couch, trying not to laugh at the growls and barks coming from the bedroom. It wasn't funny that Nod was so upset, but it was hard not to find the tiny boy growling ferociously at the big general amusing, particularly because the general did cower at it just a little.

Ronin finally came out, carrying a squirming, growling boy. Nod took one look at Glory and tried to force his way out of Ronin's arms and climb over his shoulder to get away. Ronin managed not to drop him, and Nod hit Ronin's chest in retaliation.

"No hitting Nod," Ronin caught the hand, holding it against him.

Nod screamed and pulled his hand away, then hid his face against Ronin's shoulder and started sobbing loudly. When Ronin reached up to cradle his head, he pushed his hand away without looking up.

"I see what you mean," Glory nodded, standing up, "why don't you try holding him in your lap, and we'll see if I can get a look at him."

"Well, we can try," Ronin agreed, sitting on the couch with Nod in his arms, "he actually did alright with Finn here last night, but he was really tired."

The boy whined and clung to him tighter, refusing to turn around to face Glory.

"Oh, he's still really tired," Glory crouched down in front of them, "he's just had enough sleep now to be grumpy about it."

Nod squirmed and tried to leverage himself up and out of Ronin's arms with no success. Instead, Ronin took advantage of him letting go of his shirt to turn him to face Glory.

"Hello sweet pea," Glory cooed gently, "do you remember me?"

The boy bared his teeth and growled.

"I can't tell if that's a 'yes' or a 'no'," the healer said dryly, "Ronin, does he have any toys I can use to distract him or maybe candy?"

"He dropped Cheep-Cheep in the bedroom when I grabbed him," Ronin told her, "that might help, although once he has him, he won't be letting him go."

"Cheep-Cheep?" Glory raised an eyebrow at him, clearly finding it funny that Ronin knew the names of Nod's toys.

"His stuffed chickadee," Ronin rolled his eyes.

"I'll go grab it and see if it helps calm him down," Glory went to retrieve the toy.

Nod made another escape attempt while Glory was gone, and Ronin shifted him to cradle in his arms so he would stop kicking him in the shin. The boy kicked his feet furiously in the air and whined, then realized the bells on his slippers where jingling and was momentarily distracted by trying to figure out at exactly what speed he had to kick his feet to make them jingle the loudest.

When the boy saw Glory coming back with Cheep-Cheep in her hands, he screamed and managed to twist out of Ronin's grip, almost landing on his head as he fell, then scrambling away before Ronin could grab him. He didn't try to hide though. Instead, he ran straight for Glory, who crouched down and held the toy out to him.

Nod was apparently expecting her to do something different, because he stopped in his tracks and stared at her, sniffling and fidgeting.

"Come on sweet pea," Glory extended the toy a little farther, "it's okay. I've got your chickadee for you."

Nod hesitantly inched closer to her, torn between really wanting Cheep-Cheep and not wanting to get close enough for Glory to grab. Finally he darted forward, snatching the chickadee and trying to dodge around Glory to get back to the bedroom.

Glory caught him around the waist though and stood up, lifting him up with her, "let's not play the 'drag the cranky boy out from under the bed' game again."

As Glory carried him kicking and screaming back to Ronin, Nod managed to sink his teeth into her forearm.

"Ouch!" Glory shifted him, but didn't let go.

"Did he get you?" Ronin plucked the struggling child from her.

"Yep," Glory shook out her arm, "broke the skin and everything."

"Sorry," Ronin tipped his head to the side, narrowly missing getting elbowed in the temple.

"When he's all grown up, you can tell him he holds the record for the most times the same child has bitten me," Glory smirked.

"Not funny," Ronin sat down in the rocking chair and tipped Nod back to cradle in his lap, "Nod, stop. You're alright. No one is going to hurt you."

"It will be in a decade or two," Glory snickered, "I'm going to clean this up. You try and calm him down."

Ronin started rocking and after a few failed attempts to kick him in the head, Nod finally stopped struggling and hid his face against Cheep-Cheep sullenly.

"I want to check and make sure he didn't hit his head while he was missing," Glory returned from disinfected her arm, "anything else you probably would have noticed, but we have seen head injuries lead to mood swings and changes in behavior. Barring that, he seems healthy. He certainly has lots of energy."

"This is not normal behavior for him," Ronin protested.

"No," Glory agreed, "but being lost in the woods for a second time was obviously frightening for him. I want to give him a couple days to settle down, then see where he's at."

"I was planning on trying to work tomorrow," Ronin shifted Nod so he was resting against his shoulder, and it would be easier for Glory to check for any head injuries, "I thought getting him back into his normal routine might help. Plus, Finn really needs a day off. He's been covering for me the last few weeks so I could get Nod ready to go."

"It might help," Glory agreed, reaching out to run her hand over Nod's head.

Nod whined and tried to push her hand away, but didn't react as if he were in pain, so Ronin caught his hand, gently trapping it against his shoulder, and Glory continued her examination, using her magic to check for any possible injury.

"Just make sure that Orla can stay with him," Glory continued, "I don't think he should be left with any strangers for a while."

"No, definitely not," Ronin agreed, "I already sent her a message to check her availability."

Glory finished her exam, and Ronin let Nod go. The boy smacked him angrily with Cheep-Cheep, then ran back down the hall to the bedroom.

"He's really angry at you," Glory snickered.

"I know," Ronin groaned, "I just don't know how to make it better."

"Sometimes you can't make it better," Glory shrugged, "sometimes you just have to give it time."

Ronin knew that, of course, but that didn't mean he liked it.


	16. Chapter 16

Ronin sometimes wondered what his neighbors thought about all the screaming. The wing they lived in was all officers' quarters, and outside of the queen's guard and Captain Dag's security units, very few Leafmen worked night shifts, so they were almost all up early, but the head of the queen's guard, Captain Heather, was in the apartment directly across from them and sometimes took night watch.

Hopefully, she hadn't last night. Ronin hadn't heard Nod scream this loudly in a long time.

Orla didn't exactly look apprehensive, but it was fair to say she looked just a little worried.

"I think he might recognize me," Orla looked down at the screaming boy attached to Ronin's leg, "or at least recognize that my being here means you're leaving."

"At least that would mean there's an upside to this," Ronin reached down to stroke Nod's hair, and the boy pushed his hand away and screamed louder.

He had refused to come out from under the bed yesterday after Glory left, and Ronin had slid a blanket and pillow under for him, then left his dinner sitting on the ground beside the bed. He had pushed his sippy cup out a few times for refills. He had finally come out when Ronin had gone to bed, crawling in to curl up with him. He had been very grumpy when Ronin had had to dislodge him from his arm to get up, but he hadn't started screaming until Orla showed up.

"I'm going to try and go in anyway," Ronin sighed, "I really need to get Captain Finn a day off. Nod's been biting again, and hitting and scratching, so be careful of that. He also hasn't eaten anything yet today."

"I'll see if some breakfast calms him down," Orla nodded, "he's not talking, but has he been signing at all?"

"Not yet, but definitely try," Ronin pried Nod off his leg and knelt down in front of him.

"We'll see what we can do," Orla agreed.

"Nod, I'll be home this afternoon," Ronin told the boy, "Miss Orla will stay with you until then. She's really nice and you like her, remember?"

Nod screamed and tried to hit Ronin's chest, but Ronin caught his arm gently, "no hitting."

The child plopped down on the floor and started crying. Ronin sighed and stood up.

"I think we'll be alright," Orla told the general, "are you gone on patrol today?"

"No," Ronin shook his head, "I have meetings all morning, and then one mid-afternoon. You can send me a message if you need to, although I might not be able to come home until the meeting I'm in is finished."

"Hopefully, he'll calm down," Orla nodded.

"I hope so," Ronin said, "good luck."

As Ronin closed the door he heard Nod start to scream again. This was going to be a long day for everyone, he could tell.

* * *

Ronin's foot was tapping under the table, but he forced himself to listen to his captains.

Unit captains were divided into groups and over the course of the week, Ronin met with a different group each morning. This let him stay in touch with what was going on in each unit and what was going on in the areas they patrolled. It was also when units got their assignments for the week.

Ronin usually enjoyed the morning meetings. He got along well with most of his captains, enjoyed being able to touch base with them, and appreciated their help in trouble shooting problems as they came up.

He wasn't particularly enjoying it this morning. His mind kept drifting back to Nod and whether he was still screaming or not, and whether Orla had been able to get him to settle down and eat, and hoping Nod hadn't managed to bite Orla or hurt himself.

"What do you think general?"

Ronin had to replay the context of the question in his head before he could answer.

"Adding an extra patrol is probably a good idea," Ronin agreed, "Captain Zoe is light this week. I'll put her unit on it."

"Have you ever said no to extra patrols?" Barrett quipped.

"There was that one time," Ardis put in thoughtfully, "that was forever ago though."

"I'm pretty sure there was a blizzard going on," Terrance added helpfully.

"So if we could arrange for a natural disaster we could get out of extra patrols," Barrett reasoned.

"If you could arrange for natural disasters we'd be kicking you into Dastgir's units," Ardis shook her head, "and they never seem to get a break."

Ronin was a beat slow coming in on the teasing, his mind on whether or not he should try to set up a meeting with the child advocates today or put it off and try to get home as early as possible.

"If we could avoid disasters, natural or otherwise, that would be much appreciated," Ronin interjected, "if there's nothing else, you're all dismissed. Have a good week and be safe."

"Yes, general," they stood and saluted, then left the meeting room, still heckling each other as they went.

Ronin allowed himself to indulge in a few minutes of fidgeting as he tried to figure out what he could cut from his day so he could get home to Nod sooner.

* * *

"Ronin, have you heard anything I've said?" Tara asked.

"Of course, your majesty," Ronin responded automatically.

The look Tara gave him told him she didn't believe him, and she wasn't entirely wrong.

"How's Nod doing?" the queen asked.

"That's not what we were talking about," Ronin said dryly.

"I know," Tara shrugged, "but it was on my list anyway. I've spoken with Nod's advocates, and they'd like to meet with you soon."

"That's on my list," Ronin sighed, "what's Barnet's status?"

"They need your report," Tara told him, "but based on Captain Finn's report, they've revoked custody privileges. I imagine he'll be officially declared an unfit guardian after they hear from you. They're still trying to decide whether or not it will be worth it to charge him with child neglect. That's not really Raze and Jori's area though. They'll be working with you and Glory to figure out what the next step is for Nod, which brings me back to the first question; how is Nod doing?"

"Terrible," Ronin rubbed a hand over his face, "he was screaming like a banshee when I left, and I doubt he's stopped. Did you talk with Glory?"

"I did," Tara nodded, "has he shown any improvement? Is he talking again?"

"No," Ronin sighed, "granted, he stayed under the bed for the rest of the day after Glory left, so there wasn't much of an opportunity for it."

"Glory has that effect on people," Tara snickered.

"He bit her again," Ronin grumbled.

"She said he holds the record now," Tara grinned.

"It's not funny," Ronin insisted.

"It's not funny that he's so frightened and upset," Tara agreed, "are you considering taking time off to try and get him settle down?"

"I can't keep taking time off," Ronin folded his arms, "I'm the general. I can't neglect those duties."

"Ronin, I gave you the assignment of caring for Nod," Tara reminded him, "you're not neglecting anything by doing it."

"It's not that easy," Ronin protested.

"Of course it's not easy," Tara smiled, "if it was easy everyone would do it."

"Have children or be general?" Ronin gripped.

"Both," Tara laughed, "if Nod needs you, take the time off. He's been through enough without causing him more stress."

"I'll consider it, your majesty," Ronin bowed.

"Good," Tara nodded curtly, "now we were talking about the boarder infringements near the bog…"


	17. Chapter 17

There was a message waiting for Ronin when he got out of his meeting with the heads of the spring harvest committee. It was from Orla, and Ronin forced himself to read it instead of rushing blindly home.

It was what he had expected though. Nod hadn't calmed down at all, and Orla thought it might help if Ronin came home for lunch so Nod could see he hadn't left him for good. Ronin had planned to work through lunch in the hopes of getting enough done to only go in for half the day tomorrow, but he trusted Orla's judgment, and if he went home, he could let her leave for a while and get a break from Nod's screaming.

And Nod was still screaming. Ronin could hear him when he turned down the hall. As soon as he opened the door though, the screaming stopped abruptly.

Nod was sitting in the middle of the living room floor surrounded by a messy array of stuffed animals, pillows, and blankets. He stared at Ronin in surprise, as if he hadn't expected to see him again, then he picked up the nearest pillow and threw it at Ronin as hard as he could and started to cry, but at least it was at a slightly lower decibel than his screaming had been.

"Nod, no throwing," Orla said patiently, crouching down to pull the next pillow projectile from his hands.

Nod made a whining noise and snatched up Cheep-Cheep from his side, hiding his face against him. Orla patted his head and stood up.

"I'm glad you were able to come home," she told Ronin.

"Was he screaming like that all morning?" Ronin asked, taking off his sword and putting it away.

"He actually had to stop for a little while because I think it was starting to hurt his throat," Orla sighed, "I gave him tea with honey, and maybe I shouldn't have, because it helped, and he went right back to screaming. He's starting to sound hoarse again though."

"Did you try chamomile?" Ronin came into the room, and Nod looked up at him, then huffed and pressed his face back against his chickadee.

"Yes," Orla laughed softly, "I was actually hoping he would settle down and take a nap. He certainly seems tired enough."

Ronin reached down and picked Nod up. The boy didn't latch onto him, but he tucked his knees up and curled against Ronin's chest, sticking his thumb in his mouth and further quieting his crying. The living room was a mess of blankets and pillows, and Ronin recognized some of them from Nod's nest and some of them from the bedroom. He also realized all the books had been taken off the lower shelves of the bookcases.

"I see you did some redecorating," Ronin patted the whimpering boy's back.

"Yes," Orla nodded, "he was throwing everything he could get his hands on."

"At you?" Ronin frowned.

"No," Orla shook her head, "mostly at the front door. I pulled all the books he could reach and stacked them in your study, along with all his wooden toys. Having his stuffed animals seemed to help calm him a little, although he threw those a few times too."

"What am I going to do with you kiddo?" Ronin pressed a kiss to the boy's hair, and Nod gave a disgruntled whine, "I have a meeting I have to be at at three, but why don't you take a break, and I'll stay with him until then."

"That might help," Orla agreed, "he hasn't eaten anything yet besides the tea, so he's probably hungry, and you might be able to calm him down enough to take a nap. He's really tired."

"Yeah he is," Ronin bounced the sniffling child a little, "we'll get lunch, then I'll see if I can get him to go to sleep. Maybe he'll be a little less cranky for you when he wakes up."

"That sounds like a good plan," Orla nodded, "I'll see you in a few hours."

After Orla left, Ronin sat in the rocking chair with Nod in his lap. The boy squirmed until he could sit with his face hidden against Ronin's chest, which was probably not that comfortable with Ronin still wearing his armor. Nod was still in his fox sweater and his belled slippers from yesterday. Maybe Ronin would try giving him a bath and getting him into his pajamas before Orla came back. At least he would be warm and comfortable.

Nod lifted his head suddenly and directed an angry line of whistles and chirps at Ronin.

"I know you're angry at me kiddo," Ronin stroked back his hair, "I just don't know how to make it better. I promise no one is going to make you leave like that again."

When Ronin did find time to meet with Nod's advocates, he would have to stress to them the importance of moving slowly when introducing Nod to his new family once one was selected. They were going to have to make sure that everything from now on moved at Nod's pace, or they would just have a repeat of what had happened with Barnet.

Nod continued to scold him for a few more minutes, then stopped suddenly and pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hungry?" Ronin asked, making the sign for it.

Nod frowned at him, his brow furrowing as if he was trying very hard to understand.

"Do you want some honey brittle?" Ronin tried, making the sign for honey brittle as well.

Nod continued to look confused, and just when Ronin was about to give up and take him to the kitchen to make lunch, he mimicked the sign for honey brittle back to Ronin and pointed to the kitchen again.

Ronin laughed, his shoulders slumping with relief, and he cupped Nod's face in his hands and kissed his forehead, "we'll go get some honey brittle, then have lunch."

It wasn't much given where Nod had been at before Barnet had come, but it made Ronin feel like maybe they wouldn't have to start completely from scratch again. He picked Nod up and headed toward the kitchen, and the boy yawned and wrapped his arms around Ronin's neck, resting his head on his shoulder.

* * *

Orla looked up from her book at the sound of shuffling in the hallway. Nod had been sound asleep when Ronin had left half an hour ago, and Orla had been hoping he would sleep a little longer. The poor boy was obviously tired and needed the rest.

Nod came into the living room dragging his blanket behind him and holding Cheep-Cheep. He yawned hugely and rubbed his eyes, then spotter her and scowled.

"Hello sweetheart," Orla said softly, "did you have a good nap?"

The boy growled and stomped off in the direction of the kitchen. This may or may not have been better than screaming, and Orla got up to follow him. The general has said they had had lunch, but if Nod was still hungry, she could certainly make him a snack.

Nod dropped his blanket and Cheep-Cheep in the door way and proceeded to check every cupboard and the pantry, slamming closed the doors when whatever it was he was looking for wasn't there. When he finished the kitchen he stomped past Orla, stooping to pick up his blanket and Cheep-Cheep as he went.

The process repeated itself in every room in the apartment. Nod looked under the bed and under Ronin's desk, behind the couch and under the table. Every time he didn't find what he was looking for he got more agitated, growling and barking at the empty spaces. Orla followed, watching him with some puzzlement.

"What do you need sweetheart?" Orla asked, making the sign for 'help'.

Nod ignored her and marched up to the front door, pulling hard on the handle and trying to open it. It was latched above where he could reach though and there was no danger of him getting out.

"You can't go out Nod," Orla told him gently.

Nod barked at the door and when that didn't get him any results, he started pounding on it with his fist and yelling. Orla sighed softly and plucked the child away from the door, setting him down on the other side of the entry way.

"Are you looking for Ronin?" she asked, interrupting the breath he was taking to start screaming.

Nod paused at Ronin's name, his head cocked to the side and brow furrowed. He stared at her for a moment, then pointed to the door insistently.

"Don't worry," Orla told him, "Ronin will be home in a few hours."

Nod pointed again and barked.

"You can't go out," Orla shook her head, "Ronin will be home as soon as he can."

Nod glared at her, but Orla patiently continued to stand between the boy and the door. After another minute of glaring and growling, Nod screamed and turned around stomping into the living room and sitting in the middle of it with his blanket over his head.

Orla was almost relieved until Nod started screaming and crying from under the blanket. The poor boy was so frustrated he didn't know what to do with himself.

Orla picked up a picture book and went to sit in the rocking chair near where Nod was screaming. She flipped it open and started to read. Nod probably wouldn't hear her over the screaming, but maybe hearing a familiar voice would help calm him down eventually.

* * *

"How did he do?" the general asked.

"He searched the apartment for you a few time, and he screamed most of the afternoon," Orla told him.

That Nod wasn't screaming now had more to do with him having screamed himself hoarse than any real difference in the boy's level of anger and fear.

"Apparently, he thinks you might fit in the kitchen cupboards," she added.

"Of course," Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose, "he fits in the cupboards, so why wouldn't I."

"Exactly," Orla nodded.

"I don't know what to do with him," Ronin sighed wearily and started putting away his weapons and armor, "he wasn't like this when we first found him. Do you have any suggestions?"

Orla paused to think. She doubted there was anything she could tell the general that he didn't already know, but she appreciated that he valued her thoughts.

"I think," Orla said slowly, "that he is very angry and very frightened, and that's a lot of emotion for a little body to hold, and he doesn't quite know what to do with all of it. I'm not sure exactly how to help him, but he's always done better when things are consistent."

"Yeah, he does," Ronin agreed.

"He also seems better when you're here," Orla pointed out, "he's still angry, but I don't think he's as frightened. So maybe if you could make it home for lunch and try to be home at around the same time in the evening for the next few weeks, it will help him remember that you're just gone for a while and then you're coming back; you haven't left him for good."

Orla knew the general did his best to give Nod as much attention as he could, but it wasn't always possible for him to be home at the same time every day or to make it back for lunch. She would have suggested that Ronin take a few days off, having him home for a while would probably help the most, but she knew that wasn't necessarily something Ronin would be able to do, even if he wanted to.

"Well, I can try," the general locked the weapons cabinet, "I need to go in tomorrow, but I'll talk to Captain Finn about trying to take more afternoons off. Will tomorrow work for you?"

"Of course," Orla appreciated that Ronin always asked and never assumed that she would be available; this was currently her only position, but it was still nice that he considered it.

Orla said her goodbyes and left for the evening. She really hoped that Nod would settle down and come out from under his blanket at some point before bedtime. The poor boy needed a respite from all his frustration and fear, and so did the general.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day felt unbearably long to Ronin. Nod had cried from the moment Ronin got up until he left, and he had tried to pull his armor out of Ronin's hands while he was getting ready. Ronin had had to stop what he was doing when Nod had tried to grab his sword and force the boy to sit on the couch until he stopped flailing.

Nod could not touch Ronin's weapons. That was the one rule Ronin couldn't afford to hold off on enforcing. The sign for 'no touching' had been one of the first ones Ronin had taught Nod, and after a few repetitions, they hadn't had any trouble with Nod trying to pick up or play with Ronin's weapons.

Ronin had tried the sign with Nod, but he wasn't sure he had understood. Once Ronin had let him off the couch, he had followed him back to the weapons cabinet, whining and grumbling, but he hadn't tried to grab Ronin's weapons or armor again.

Ronin had still had to pry him off his leg to leave, and left him sitting on the floor screaming and looking for things to throw. Ronin hated that Nod was so unhappy, and he hated that there was nothing he could really do to fix it.

Even when Ronin was home, Nod was cranky and uncooperative. Ronin had come home for lunch, and the boy had refused to come out from under his blanket, instead sitting on Ronin's foot under the table while they ate. Ronin leaving afterwards had been a repeat of the morning, minus Nod grabbing for Ronin's weapons thankfully.

And now the afternoon seemed like it would never end. Ronin had been scheduled to go out on patrol, but Finn had asked to switch with him, saying he needed to get out for a while and do something besides paperwork. Suspicious though Ronin was of his motives, it was hard to say no to Finn after he had covered so often for Ronin in the last few weeks.

It left Ronin with the paperwork though. When Ronin had first been promoted to second-in-command of the Leafmen, he had had no idea how much paperwork the general did. General Niraj had been happy to give him ample experience in doing it though. It was a necessary evil that allowed them to keep records, track problems, and track people, but the people who enjoyed doing it were few and far between.

After two hours of sitting at his desk and getting almost nothing done, Ronin gave up. He could do paperwork at home as easily as he could do it in his office. He dumped it all into a satchel, let the hall guard know where he could be reached if he was needed, and went home.

He was only home a few hours early, but dinner that night was much easier. By the time they ate, Nod had calmed down and actually sat on Ronin's lap at the table. He was still eating with his fingers, but at least he wasn't under the table. Bath time was wet, and Nod refused to wear the pajamas Ronin had picked out for him, instead tearing apart his drawers until he found his blue stripped sweater with the tasseled hood. He didn't want Ronin's help putting it on, and he didn't want to wear his slippers, not even the ones with bells, but at least he finally submitted to putting on his green pajama pants (not the brown ones, only the green ones).

Ronin worked in his study for a while after bath time, and Nod curled up with a blanket under his desk, occasionally immerging to get more toys and bring them back. By the time the boy finally fell asleep, there was almost no room for Ronin's feet under his desk.

Still, it was a better night then the night before, if only a little.

* * *

The next morning was not better. Nod woke up when Ronin pulled his arm out from under his head to get out of bed and tumbled off the mattress, scrambling for the front door. Ronin followed and found Nod had planted himself in front of it. The boy glared up at him as he approached, growling menacingly.

Ronin thought about giving up right then, sending a message to Finn that he wasn't coming in, and going back to bed and seeing if Nod crawled back under the blankets with him.

That wasn't exactly something the general could do though.

"I'm going to go make breakfast," Ronin told the boy, making the sign for 'hungry'.

Nod glared up at him, showing no sign of moving, so Ronin left him there and went to the kitchen. Ronin made acorn mash for himself, but didn't relish the idea of cleaning it off of his front door if Nod decided he would rather play with it than eat it, so he toasted up a few slices of bread and brought them out for Nod to snack on.

The boy had slid down to sit with his back to the door and was dozing off, but he jerked awake at Ronin's approach, scrambling to his feet and growling again. He barked when Ronin got too close to the door.

"Toast," Ronin held out a slice.

Nod looked between Ronin and the toast suspiciously, then snatched it from him, sitting down to eat. He glanced up at Ronin every now and then to make sure he hadn't gotten too close to the front door.

Ronin watched him for a moment, contemplating the best way to grab him without getting bitten when Orla came and needed to be let in.

"This is going to be fun," Ronin grumbled and went to go get dressed.

* * *

It wasn't fun. At all. Ronin had had to hold Nod screaming and kicking under his arm like a piece of luggage to open the door for Orla, and as soon as he had put the boy back on his feet, he had darted back between them and the door and tried to push Ronin away from it.

Apparently, Nod had had it with Ronin leaving when he wanted him to stay.

Getting out the door had been a challenge, and in the end, Orla had taken Nod down to Ronin's bedroom and shut both of them in so Ronin could leave. He had left to the sound of Nod screaming and pounding on the bedroom door.

He was almost late by the time he got to his office to grab the reports he needed for the morning meeting.

"Ronin, go home."

"Excuse me?" Ronin looked up to find Finn standing in his office door and was slightly baffled.

His first thought was that something had happened to Nod, but he had only just left him, and there was no reason Finn would have heard about it before Ronin did.

"Go home," Finn said, folding his arms over his chest, "if it were any of our captains and something like this had happened to one of their children, you would not even consider letting them back on duty this soon. They would be too distracted, and it would be too dangerous for them and their unit."

Ronin wasn't sure whether to protest that he wasn't distracted or that Nod wasn't his child.

"Finn, I can't just…" Ronin started.

"Go home," Finn repeated again, "don't make me get the queen in on it."

Technically, Finn could override him on the battlefield if he felt it was necessary, although he never had, but off the battlefield only the queen could remove a general from duty. If Finn was willing to bring Tara into it, then he must have really felt there was a problem.

Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose. He wanted to be home with Nod, but he was also general. He couldn't just take time off whenever he wanted.

"You know Nod is going to do better with you home for a while," Finn pressed, "and you could use a break too."

Ronin hesitated a moment longer, then shook his head and pushed back from his desk, "alright. If there are any emergencies let me know."

"Will do," Finn nodded, "see you in a week."

"A week?" Ronin stopped on his way out the door.

"Don't even start," Finn grumbled, "I'm already going to be late."

Ronin snorted softly, "thanks Finn."

Ronin waved and headed home. He wasn't sure Nod would be happy to see him, but he would be less unhappy with him home than he was with him gone.


	19. Chapter 19

Ronin came home to Nod screaming and tearing pillows and blankets off the bed to throw across the room. Orla was standing nearby, watching to make sure he didn't hurt himself, but she seemed to have decided it was best to let him burn off some of his anger and frustration.

"General Ronin," she jumped a little when he came in the room; she hadn't been able to hear the front door over Nod's screaming.

Nod saw him and froze, hands fisted in the sheet he was trying to tear off the bed and panting from his exertion. He stared at him for a moment, then gave a cry and leapt from the bed, flinging himself at Ronin's leg and crying.

Ronin lifted him up, and Nod slapped his chest with an angry whine, then pressed his face against Ronin's shoulder and clung to him, his little body shaking with sobs.

"Hey," Ronin shifted him so he could see his face, "no hitting."

Nod refused to look at him, instead burying his face back against Ronin's shoulder and continuing to cry. Ronin brought his hand up to cradle the boy's head, and Nod didn't push him away this time.

"Is something wrong general?" Orla asked in concern, "you just left."

"No, everything's find," Ronin leaned his cheek against Nod's hair, "I'm taking the week off though."

"I think that will be good for Nod," Orla looked relieved, "he does better when you're here."

"I know it hasn't been easy the last few days," Ronin said, "thank you for staying with him."

"I'm happy I could help," Orla nodded, "I really think he'll settle down and start improving again if he can have you to himself for a few days."

"I hope so," Ronin tightened his arms around Nod just a little.

Orla said goodbye to Nod, making the sign for it, and Nod hesitated, then waved to her tentatively before putting his head back on Ronin's shoulder.

After she left, Ronin stood for a moment looking around the apartment. It was strange to be home so early and even stranger to think he wouldn't be back on duty for a week. Injuries aside, he hadn't taken that much time off in one stretch since before Tara had become queen. As much as he was taking it off for Nod, Finn had been right; he needed it too.

Nod was finally quieting down, but Ronin suspected if he tried to put him down to take his armor off, he would start to cry again, and it seemed like too much work anyway. Ignoring the mess in the living room that Nod had left in the wake of his tantrums the last few days, Ronin headed to the bedroom.

The bed was a disaster, but he laid down with Nod anyway, wrapping a blanket around the boy to give him some cushion from his armor. He would take it off soon, but right now they both just needed a nap.

* * *

Ronin woke to chirping, and it took him a moment to realize it was Nod and not a bird. He opened his eyes to find the boy sitting on his knees and watching him, chirping nervously. When he saw Ronin was awake, he thrust the plate in his hands towards him.

"What have you got?" Ronin sat up with a yawn.

He must have been more tired than he thought to sleep through Nod getting up and coming back. The plate he was holding out to Ronin had crackers covered sloppily in jam, and honey brittle, and seed cake. Nod pushed it towards him, cooing uncertainly.

"For me?" Ronin took the plate from him, "thanks buddy."

Nod's hands immediately dropped to twist in the tangled sheets, and he looked down, chirping and whistling as if he were trying to explain something. There was a streak of jam across his face, and Ronin suspected his kitchen would be significantly stickier than the last time he had seen it.

"Do you want some honey brittle?" Ronin offered, holding a piece out to him.

Nod shook his head quickly and pushed the offered sweet away, then went back to wringing the sheets in his hands and making the nervous little chirping noises he had been making when Ronin woke up.

Ronin frowned and ate a honey brittle himself while he watched the boy. Nod glanced up at him quickly, looking relieved that he was eating, then looked back down. Ronin wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

"Hey," Ronin set the plate aside and pulled Nod onto his lap, "what's wrong chickadee?"

Nod pointed to the plate and cooed again. It was so frustrating that he couldn't tell Ronin what was going on in his head. When Ronin didn't pick the plate up again, Nod looked up at him, his brow creased with worry.

Ronin picked the plate up and set it in Nod's lap, picking up a piece of seed cake to eat. It was doubtful Nod had suddenly become worried about him not eating enough, but the boy had gone to the trouble of putting together the plate for Ronin, so he must have had a reason. When Ronin finished the seed cake, Nod offered him a piece of honey brittle, looking up at Ronin hopefully.

Ronin took it and Nod relaxed a little, resting his head against Ronin's chest. Ronin had known Nod long enough that he felt like he should have been able to figure this out. While he thought about it, he ate another cracker as that seemed to make Nod feel better. Why was it suddenly so important to Nod that Ronin accept the food he made though? It was like…

…maybe … maybe it was Nod's way of apologizing or trying to make up for the mess he had made?

Ronin set the plate aside despite Nod's protest and lift the boy up so he could sit him on his lap facing him. Nod dug his fingers into the creases of Ronin's armor and refused to look up.

"Nod," Ronin said softly, leaning down to press his forehead against the boy's, "I'm not angry at you, I promise. It's been a really bad week, and I know you're sad and angry and frightened, and we need to help you find better ways to deal with that, but I'm not angry with you. None of this is your fault, not even the throwing temper tantrums part, not really."

Ronin didn't fool himself into thinking Nod understood, but his tone seemed to sooth the boy, and Nod tipped his head back and kissed Ronin's cheek, then tucked his head under his chin shyly. Ronin smiled into his hair and held him for a while, munching on sticky crackers and seed cake.


	20. Chapter 20

Ronin jerked awake and knew immediately that something was very wrong. Nod wasn't sleeping next to him. It wasn't like Nod to get up in the middle of the night. He didn't like the dark, and if he did need to get up, he always woke Ronin.

"Nod!" Ronin called, shoving back his blankets and stumbling in his rush to get out of bed.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Ronin raced into the living room and his heart skipped a beat. The front door was swinging open.

"Nod!"

"Ronin!"

The scream came from outside, and Ronin raced out the door and into the forest.

"Nod, where are you?" Ronin called.

Nod screamed his name again, his voice high with terror.

The forest was dark, and Nod's voice echoed; Ronin couldn't pin point where it was coming from. Before Ronin could call for him, Nod screamed again, crying desperately for Ronin.

"I'll find you Nod!" Ronin yelled, "just stay where you are!"

The boy continued to scream for him, each cry more desperate than the last, and Ronin turned in a circle, scanning the underbrush frantically. Everything looked the same, and Nod's voice seemed to be coming from every direction.

Suddenly Nod's screams were cut short.

"No! Nod!"

Ronin sat up with a gasp, his heart hammering in his chest. Beside him, Nod grumbled and scolded sleepily, cranky at having been dislodged from Ronin's arm and woken. Ronin stared down at the drowsy, sullen boy, and it was all he could do not snatch him up and cling to him.

He forced himself to take a deep breath, but he couldn't look away from Nod. The feeling of dread, the sense that he might suddenly disappear if Ronin let him out of his sight, coiled tight in his chest and wouldn't let go.

Nod whined and reached up to tug on his shirt, wanting him to lay back down.

"Sorry chickadee," Ronin managed, though his throat felt tight, "I didn't mean to wake you."

Nod grumbled and pulled harder, and Ronin forced himself to lay back down beside him, gathering the boy in close to him. Nod frowned and cooed at him when he felt his shaking.

"Everything's alright," Ronin stroked back the boy's hair, his voice starting to steady, "we're fine. Everything's okay."

Nod snuggled up against him and put his thumb in his mouth, falling back to sleep almost at once, but Ronin lay awake for hours, listening to the boy's soft snores and holding him close.

* * *

Nod snatched the washcloth from Ronin's hand with a disgruntled whine and glared up at him.

"Alright, you do it," Ronin leaned on the edge of the tub, "just don't forget to wash your toes."

He reached out and tweaked the boy's toes, and Nod pulled them to himself with a pout, but proceeded to wash them first, making sure to get between each one, then moved on to wash the rest of his front, giving Ronin an occasional suspicious look as he worked.

Ronin rested his head on his hand and let him be. He had discovered over the past few days that everything went much more smoothly if he let Nod try to do things himself before helping. Once he had done as much as he could himself, he would let Ronin help.

The insistence on being independent was a new development and would probably have happened eventually regardless of the trauma of being lost again, but Ronin would have been happy to have put it off a little longer.

Nod finished and looked up at Ronin expectantly.

"Are you going to wash your back?" Ronin tickled his fingers between the boy's shoulders where he knew he couldn't reach.

Nod tried anyway, squirming and splashing in the tub, then finally gave a huff and held the washcloth out to Ronin.

"Thanks," Ronin added more soap to the washcloth, and washed his back and behind his ears, then let Nod use the pitcher to wash it off himself.

Ronin got about as wet as he expected he would, particularly when Nod shook out his hair. He lifted the boy out and bundled him in a towel, then turned him loose.

He went straight for the dirty clothes hamper. Ronin had finally gotten him out of his striped sweater, and he wasn't happy about it.

"Clean clothes buddy," Ronin called.

Nod pouted at him.

"From the bedroom," Ronin pointed towards the door.

For a moment Ronin thought he would try to dig his sweater out of the hamper anyway, but then he scowled and stomped into the bedroom, dragging his towel behind him.

Ronin was amused, although he thought he maybe shouldn't have been. Still, this was better than having Nod throw a temper tantrum over it.

By the time he got to the bedroom, Nod had pulled all the clothes in the bottom drawers out and managed to find a night shirt that he deemed acceptable, but he was still looking for pajama pants.

"Are you going to help me clean this up buddy?" Ronin asked, picking the towel up off the floor and stepping back into the hall to put it in the hamper.

Nod chattered and chirped, moving onto the next drawer and flinging the clothes out of it.

"Eben is coming over to play tomorrow," Ronin told him, "it will be easier to play if it's not messy."

Nod was finally starting to settle down, and Ronin was hoping having Eben over would help him remember some of the things he had forgotten, and even if it didn't, he hoped Nod would at least have fun playing with him.

Nod finally found a set of pajama pants he was willing to wear and finished getting dressed.

"Do you remember Eben?" Ronin asked.

Nod marched over to the bed and snatched Cheep-Cheep off of it, then marched back to Ronin and took his hand, trying to drag him back to the living room.

"We should clean up in here first," Ronin made the sign for clean.

Nod pursed his lips and glared, but Ronin didn't budge, and finally the boy gave a huff and set Cheep-Cheep down so he could gather up clothes and dump them back in the drawers.

Ronin laughed and dropped down to his knees, snatching Nod to him as he stomped by and covering his face in kisses until he was shrieking with laughter.

"You are a silly chickadee," he gave him a last squeeze and let him go, "I'll help you clean up, then we can pick out a bed time story."

Nod still didn't seem to be following the words, but at least he followed along with the pictures and made animal noises whenever he saw one. It was progress, even if it was just a little, and Ronin was grateful to have the time to be there with Nod for it.


	21. Chapter 21

When he hadn't been able to stop Ronin from opening the door, Nod had decided to sit sullenly under the table with Cheep-Cheep in his lap.

Nora was amused. She and Ronin sat down to have tea and left Eben to try and coax Nod out. Nora had told Eben that Nod had had a bad scare and was having trouble remembering things, even how to talk. Eben seemed to think this completely reasonable and had been asking to come visit since he had found out Nod hadn't gone with his great-great uncle.

"Hi Nod," Eben crawled under the table and sat down across from the other boy, "are you feeling better yet?"

Nod hugged Cheep-Cheep tight and watched him suspiciously.

"I'm Eben," Eben offered, "we're friends, and we play together, and I'm glad you got to stay here because now we can play more."

Nod chirped uncertainly.

"Oh! I know!" Eben brightened and tried to make the chickadee call for 'play' that Nod had taught him.

If the confused look Nod gave him was any indication, he hadn't gotten it quite right. He tried again, and Nod cocked his head to the side and chirped back. On the third try, Nod whistled at him, then crawled over to Ronin and tugged on his pant leg.

"What's up buddy?" Ronin slid his chair back enough to look at him.

Nod made some kind of sign with his hand, and Ronin handed him a cookie. Nod chirped irritably and made the sign again, pointing in Eben's direction.

"Here you go, enough for both of you," Ronin handed him the plate.

"Oh!" Eben's eyes lit up, and he crawled over to Nora, "Mom, Nod can talk with signs! I want to learn signs too so I can talk to Nod! Can you teach me?"

"I don't know any signs sweetie," Nora shook her head, "maybe General Ronin can teach you some."

Eben popped out from under the table next to his mother, "General Ronin, can you teach me to sign so I can talk to Nod?"

"Nod is having trouble with his signs right now, but you could try a few," Ronin smiled, pleased with Eben's eagerness to try to find a way to communicate with Nod, "which ones do you want to learn?"

"Umm…" Eben considered, "how about 'play'? I was trying to ask Nod to play in chickadee, but I think I said I wanted something to eat instead."

Ronin made the sign, and Eben repeated it a few times until he was sure he had it, then started to duck back under the table. He popped right back up though.

"What about 'thank you'?" he asked.

Ronin showed him that sign too, and Eben disappeared back under the table.

Nod was still sitting with Cheep-Cheep, looking very perplexed and a little annoyed. He pushed the plate of cookies towards Eben when he crawled back under the table.

"Thank you," Eben made the sign and took a cookie, "do you want to play?"

Eben made the sign Ronin had shown him, and Nod frowned in confusion, like he couldn't quite figure it out. Eben thought for a moment, then brightened.

"I know!" he scrambled out from under the table and headed for Nod's toy bin.

Nod crawled out, watching him curiously.

Eben started pulling blocks and wooden animals out of the bin and stacking them up.

"Play," he said, making the sign again.

He stacked the blocks a few rows high, then lined the animals up on top of them. Nod chirped and whistled, watching him curiously. He had helped Ronin pick up his blocks and put them back in the bin, but he hadn't really played with them since getting home. He had been much more interested in his stuffed animals.

Nod's curiosity got the better of him, and he crept closer.

"See, we can build a house," Eben said, working on the walls, "and all the animals can live in it."

Nod watched for a few more minutes, then tentatively started stacking blocks as well.

"That's right!" Eben cheered, "we can build a whole city for the animals and even a house for Cheep-Cheep!"

Nod grinned at him shyly and started helping him build.

"Can I just keep Eben for a while?" Ronin asked, watching the boys add to their city with more and more enthusiasm.

"You're only saying that because you've never tried to get him to do something he doesn't want to," Nora laughed, "but if you think Nod is up for it, Eben can come by after school tomorrow and stay for a while."

"Can I?" Eben's head popped up from their building project.

"It's alright with me," Ronin said.

"I get to come back tomorrow!" Eben cheered.

Nod whistled and tugged on his sleeve, pointing to the blocks.

"This house can be for the fox…" Eben went back to helping him build.

"Tomorrow then?" Nora asked in amusement.

"Yeah," Ronin grinned, "thank you."

The blocks crashed to the ground suddenly, and both boys shrieked with laughter. It was one of the nicest sounds Ronin had heard in weeks.

* * *

Nod chirped and chattered through getting ready for bed. He kept dragging Ronin back to the living room and pointing at the front door insistently. He seemed to have it in his head that Eben was on the other side, and all they had to do was open the door, and they could play more.

Ronin finally opened the door for him to see. He popped his head out cautiously and looked down both directions of the hall, but there was no one there. Ronin was both amused and a little proud when Nod worked up the nerve to creep out into the hall. He leaned against the door jam and watched Nod pad barefoot and in his pajamas to the end of the hall and peered around the corner.

One of the guards at the end of the hall spotted him and called a soft hello. Nod squeaked and scurried back to Ronin, who laughed and picked him up.

"You have him sir?" the guard poked his head around the corner.

"I do, thank you," Ronin patted Nod's back in amusement.

"Yes sir," the guard smiled, "good night."

"Good night," Ronin nodded and took Nod back inside.

Nod cooed and chirped, gesturing with his hands and nearly wiggling himself out of Ronin's arms.

"Eben will be back tomorrow," Ronin kissed his cheek and set him on the floor, "and the day after tomorrow, Miss Orla is coming to visit for the afternoon."

Ronin needed to meet with Nod's advocates, and the queen would want an update on how the boy was doing, plus Ronin was going to need to get back to work soon. It seemed like leaving Nod with Orla for a few hours would be a good way to ease him back into Ronin being gone.

Nod perked up at Eben's name, whistling and tugging on Ronin's pant leg.

"Tomorrow," Ronin tried the sign for it.

Nod wrinkled his nose as if he was trying to understand.

"Eben is coming tomorrow," Ronin repeated the sign.

Nod stared for a moment longer, then his face brightened suddenly, and he started chirping and whistling happily, pointing to the door and repeating the sign for tomorrow back to Ronin.

Ronin laughed and rumpled his hair, "let's pick out a book and get to bed. The sooner you get to sleep, the sooner tomorrow will come."

Ronin wasn't entirely sure that Nod understood 'tomorrow,' but he at least seemed to understand that Eben was coming back. After story time, and with more wiggling than usual, Nod finally settled down to sleep. Ronin waited a few minutes to make sure he was really sleeping, then slipped out of bed.

Finn had sent over some reports he wanted Ronin to go through, more in the interest of keeping him up to date for when he returned than because he needed anything from him. Now seemed like an easier time to read them then while Nod was awake, so Ronin went to his study and left the doors open so he could hear Nod if he woke up.

It was good to see Nod happy again, and hopefully things would start settling back to normal soon.


	22. Chapter 22

… _akjdflaks fjaisdofj bad… continue to be bad… no one will want you…_

 _The man was scary and towered over Nod and Nod hugged Cheep-Cheep tight and looked around for Ronin. Ronin would make the scary man go away._

" _Ronin?" Nod called._

" _Ronin doesn't want you," the man repeated._

" _Yes he does," Nod shrank back from him, "he said he loves me and if you're mean, I can go back and live with him, and your mean and I want Ronin."_

" _No."_

 _Nod spun to find Ronin standing over him too, but he looked angry and scary._

" _Ronin?"_

" _You have to go with your uncle," Ronin said, "you can't stay with me anymore because you're bad."_

" _I'll be good!" Nod pleaded._

" _No, you're bad," the mean man told him._

" _No!" Nod sobbed and lunged for Ronin, grabbing onto his pant leg, "I'll be really really good! I promise I'll be good!"_

" _No, you're bad," Ronin pried Nod's hands off._

" _You have to come with me," the mean man picked Nod up around the waist and dragged him away._

" _Ronin!" Nod screamed for him, but Ronin turned and walked away._

" _Ronin!"_

Nod woke up with a gasp, knocking Cheep-Cheep off the bed in his struggle to get away from the mean man, who turned out to just be his blankets.

He was home in Ronin's bed, and the glowy plant was on the nightstand, and it had just been a bad dream.

Except there really had been a bad man, and Ronin really had made him go with him. Nod hiccupped and sobbed, looking around for Ronin, but he wasn't there, and Cheep-Cheep wasn't there either, which only made Nod cry harder.

"Nod?" Ronin came into the room carrying a lamp, "what's wrong?"

Ronin had let him come back, so did that mean he wasn't bad, and he could keep staying with Ronin?

"Did you have a bad dream?" Ronin set the lamp on the night stand and stooped to pick up Cheep-Cheep before sitting on the bed beside him.

 _You weren't there,_ Nod wanted to tell him, _and you made me go with the bad man,_ but the words wouldn't come out.

"It's okay chickadee," Ronin held Cheep-Cheep out to him, "you're okay."

Nod took Cheep-Cheep from him and buried his face against him. He was angry at Ronin, but he didn't want to be bad and have Ronin make him leave.

Ronin scooped him up and leaned against the headboard with Nod cradled in his arms, "you're safe now. I'm here."

Ronin rocked him and hummed quietly, and Nod liked it when Ronin held him, and Ronin kept all the bad things away, but only when he wanted to. What if he didn't want to keep them away from Nod anymore?

The boy whimpered, and Ronin shushed him, cuddling him closer. Nod sniffled and stuck his thumb in his mouth. He didn't know what he did that was bad. Ronin had told him he was good, but if he was good, why had Ronin made him go?

"It's okay Nod," Ronin murmured softly, "I won't let anything hurt you."

Nod snuggled close to him. Ronin always did what he said he would. The bad man had been mean, and Ronin had let him come back home with him, just like he said he would. If he said he wouldn't let anything hurt him, then he wouldn't.

Nod would just have to figure out what he did that was bad so he could make extra sure that Ronin would let him stay.

* * *

Nod ran to open the door when he heard the knock, but it wasn't Eben standing there.

"Hello Nod," Orla smiled down at the boy.

Nod huffed and pouted, sulking away to go cling to Ronin's leg.

"I guess he was expecting someone else," Orla laughed.

"Eben has been over the last two afternoons," Ronin explained, "I think Nod was hoping he would be over again today."

"That's good he's been playing," Orla slid her bag off her shoulder and set it on the couch.

"He's doing much better. He seems to be picking up signs again, although it sometimes takes him a while to figure them out," Ronin reached down to lift Nod up, "still no talking though."

"We'll still have fun," Orla made the sign for play.

Nod gave her a very skeptical look and tightened his hold around Ronin shoulders.

Ronin was really hoping he would be able to get out the door without Nod throwing a tantrum. He was only planning to be gone a few hours, and if Nod did alright with that, then Ronin could start making arrangements to go back on duty.

Of course 'alright' didn't necessarily mean happy or enthusiastic about it.

"I brought a new game for us to play," Orla pulled a brightly painted wooden box out of her bag and held it out to the boy.

Nod gave the box a curious look, and Ronin set him on his feet. With many a suspicious look between the two adults, Nod inched forward and took it.

"Open it up," Orla encouraged.

Nod frowned up at them and opened the latch, then whistled and chirped happily at the content. It was filled with little wooden disks that had different animals painted on them. He dug through the box, holding up disks and making the noises that went along with the animals.

"I thought you might like that," Orla smiled, "do you want me to show you how to play?"

Nod looked up at her and cautiously made the sign for 'play.'

"That's right," Orla sat down on the couch and motioned for Nod to come sit next to her.

He hesitated, then grabbed Ronin's hand and pulled him along with him to the couch.

Ronin had purposely left himself extra time before his meeting with Nod's advocates, thinking Nod might do better if he could stay for a while with Orla there, so he let himself be pulled down on the couch beside the boy. He could play a few rounds of the game with them before he had to go.

It was a memory game, and Orla showed Nod how to lay out all the pieces animal side down, then take turns turning over two of them at a time. If he got the same animal on a turn, he got to keep the pieces. Nod picked the game up quickly, and after a few rounds, Ronin stopped playing, letting Nod play with just Orla.

"Hey buddy, I'm going to take off for a little bit," Ronin put a hand on Nod's back to get his attention after the next round of the game finished.

Nod chirped at him without looking up. He was in the middle of enthusiastically shaking the box with the pieces in them to mix them up for the next round.

"I'll only be gone a few hours," Ronin kissed the top of his head and stood up.

Nod glanced up at him and twittered questioningly.

"Before dinner," Ronin made the sign for dinner.

Nod's eyes narrowed.

"Do you want to go first Nod?" Orla opened the box, dumping all the pieces out on the table.

Nod glanced at them, then back up at Ronin, his forehead wrinkled as if he were trying figure something out. Finally he signed 'dinner' back to Ronin.

"That's right," Ronin nodded, "I'll be back by dinner."

Nod sighed and his shoulders slumped, but he went back to putting game pieces in place with somewhat less enthusiasm than before.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Ronin told Orla.

"We'll be alright," Orla stroked Nod's hair back soothingly.

Ronin gave Nod one last kiss on the head, then left. He paused outside the front door once he closed it, listening for the screaming to start, but there was none.

Hopefully, Ronin would be back before Nod started getting anxious about him being gone, and everything would be alright.


	23. Chapter 23

"Thank you for meeting with us General Ronin," the woman shook Ronin's hand, "I'm Jori."

"I'm Raze," the man shook his hand as well.

"I'm glad we could find a time to meet," Ronin sat down across the table from them, "has Glory kept you up to date?"

"The last report we got from Glory said Nod appeared to have regressed to the state he was in when he was first found," Jori nodded, "that was a little over a week ago though, and you've been home with him the last week, right?"

"That's right," Ronin nodded, "he's improving, and he's been signing a little bit, but he's still not talking. Depending on how he does with me being gone this afternoon, I'll be trying to go back on duty in the next two or three days."

"That's good that he's improving," Jori said, "we'd like to meet him eventually, once you feel like he's up to interacting with strangers again. We don't want to cause him any more stress right now."

"I can't really give you a time frame on that," Ronin shrugged, "if it was before all this happened, he probably would have been fine, but right now he's not happy even with people he does know. The only person he's excited to see is his friend Eben."

"Is Eben his age?" Raze asked curiously.

"Yeah," Ronin nodded, "he's Captain Finn's younger brother. They became friends before the incident with Barnet, and he's been over to play the last few afternoons. It's been good for Nod. It's gotten him to start signing a little bit more."

"That's really excellent that he's playing with someone his age and having fun," Raze grinned, "playing is a great way to help kids improve their communication skills."

"Well, he seems to be trying to teach Eben to speak chickadee if that counts," Ronin smiled dryly.

Raze laughed.

"We can meet Nod whenever you feel like he's ready," Jori said, "we agree with your assessment that moving slowly will be the best way to minimize the stress on him. I know that having him has hampered your ability to be on duty, general. What sort of time frame were you expecting in terms of having him placed with someone else?"

In some ways, Ronin had been expecting that question, but there was still an unexpected tightness in his chest at the thought of Nod leaving. He had pushed to have Nod placed with someone else early on, and right up until he saw how much anxiety it had caused Nod to be moved, he would have said the sooner he could be put with someone who could give him the attention he needed, the better. Right now though, Ronin didn't think that was what would be best for him.

"There have been difficulties with having him," Ronin admitted, "but so far, we've been able to make it work. It's not ideal, and I can't give him as much attention as he probably needs, but given the amount of anxiety just being told he was going to live with someone else caused him, never mind the mess Barnet made of everything when it actually happened, I don't think he should be moved again for a while, not until he's stable and talking again, and can really understand what's happening. And even then, he shouldn't be moved more than once. The next place he's moved to should be his permanent home."

"And you're alright with that possibly taking four or five months, maybe longer?" Jori asked.

"I am," Ronin said without hesitation, although he hoped for Nod's sake it wouldn't take that long.

Nod deserved to have a permanent home and a family as soon as they could find one that would suit him.

"Alright," Jori nodded, noting it on the file in front of her, "well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Lord Barnet has been declared an unfit guardian and no longer has any say in anything concerning Nod."

"Good," Ronin's hands tightened briefly into fists, then he forced himself to relax.

"They haven't decided yet if they should press neglect charges," Raze put in, "we'll keep you posted on what they decide. If they do press charges, Nod will need to give a statement to a court official to be notarized, so they're weighing pressing charges against the stress it might cause Nod."

"It's not going to be possible for Nod to give a statement for a while," Ronin shook his head.

Ronin found himself feeling a bit torn about the issue. On the one hand, he wanted Barnet to be punished for hurting Nod so badly and doing so much damage. On the other hand, he didn't want to put Nod through having to give a statement. On the rare occasion that the courts did need witnesses from children, they were allowed to dictate their statement to a court official instead of having to be at the actual trial, but even that would be hard on Nod.

"That's fine," Jori assured him, "there's no rush. I doubt Barnet is going to suddenly disappear."

"In the mean time though," Raze said, "we want to know what you think we should be looking for in parents for Nod. You know him better than anyone, so we really want your input on what kind of family you think would be best for him."

"Let me think about that for a little bit so I can give you a more thorough answer," Ronin said.

While there were certain things Ronin knew Nod needed, it would take some time to come up with a list of traits and characteristics that would create a home Nod would thrive in, and Ronin was more reassured than he could say that the advocates wanted his input on the issue.

"Well, he's not going to be moved any time soon," Raze shrugged, "we have plenty of time to talk about it. For now, tell us about Nod. What does he like? What doesn't he like? Who are his favorite people, besides you, that is?"

Once Ronin started talking, he found it was easy to list off Nod's likes and dislikes, his favorite foods, his favorite toys, the routine he liked to keep, the way he got cranky when his routine got interrupted. All the little things about Nod that Ronin found so endearing, and all the things Nod struggled with.

Ronin left the meeting feeling confident that he would be able to work with Jori and Raze to find Nod a good home.

* * *

"General Ronin," Tara looked up from her desk with a smile when he entered her study, "it seems like it's been a long time since I last saw you. I can't remember the last time we went this long without seeing each other."

Ronin rarely met with the queen in her study. She held all her official audiences in her inner garden so that was where she usually was and why Ronin usually ended up having meetings with her there.

"Not since before you were queen," Ronin bowed.

It was strange to go so long without seeing her, but Nod had been keeping him busy. He knew though that Tara would appreciate an update on Nod, and he might not be able to get away for another few days if Nod hadn't taken him being gone well.

"Come sit down," Tara motioned to the chair in front of her desk, "how have things been going with Nod?"

"Better," Ronin took the offered seat, "I actually got out the door without him screaming."

"I'm sure Orla appreciated that," Tara smiled softly, "has he started talking again yet?"

"No," Ronin shook his head, "he's signing a little bit, and he was getting less clingy, but the last few nights he's woken up crying and refused to let me out of his sight the next morning. I think he's having nightmare."

Ronin had been having the same nightmare all week, but he had managed not to wake Nod up with it after the first night. It happened sometimes that he went through bouts of nightmares. They always passed eventually. He would have been much happier though if it hadn't looked like Nod was struggling with the same problem.

"I wish he was talking so he could tell us what was going on," Tara frowned.

"Yeah," Ronin nodded, "me too."

"I hear from the Child Advocacy Commission," Tara sighed, "they've declared Barnet an unfit guardian."

"I just came from speaking with Jori and Raze," Ronin nodded, "they mentioned they haven't made the decision on whether to press charges yet or not."

"No, they probably won't be able to for a while," Tara wrinkled her nose, "I'm suspending Barnet's Moonhaven merchant's license though."

"Really?" Ronin was almost amused.

"Well, we don't want merchants that aren't trustworthy running around," Tara shrugged.

"Your judgment is excellent as always, your majesty," Ronin grinned.

"I'm reminding you of that next time we have a public function," the queen teased, "what are Raze and Jori's plans for Nod?"

"Nothing right now," Ronin shook his head, "They're going to start considering candidates to adopt him, but they won't be introducing him to any perspective parents until he's recovered more, and their plan is to have him stay with me until he's ready to be placed permanently with his new family."

"That could be a while," Tara folded her hands under her chin.

"I know," Ronin affirmed.

"So, then, what are your plans?" the queen asked.

"If Nod does alright with me being gone this afternoon, I'd like to be back on duty in the next two or three days," Ronin leaned back a little in his chair, "he didn't start crying when I left, so he might be doing okay."

"Well, if it does seem to be causing him stress, you could consider working half days for a while," Tara suggested, "you have plenty of administrative work that has to get done. There's no reason you can't do that from home."

"That could be an option," Ronin nodded slowly.

Paperwork was not something Ronin enjoyed, and he usually tried to split what he could with Finn, both because it was good for Finn to be familiar with that part of the job, and because it gave Ronin time to get out in the field more often. It could be possible to make arrangements with Finn to shift around the work load though so Ronin could work from home part of the day.

Finn would probably jump at the chance to do less paperwork.

"Well, keep me posted," Tara said.

"I will," Ronin stood, "I'll bring Nod to visit as soon as he's feeling less anxious."

"I would love to see him," Tara smiled, "my trinket collection is starting to overflow with no one to hide them for."

Ronin laughed, "I'm sure he'll be excited to add to his stash."


	24. Chapter 24

"Where's Nod?" Ronin glanced around the living room as he untied his boots.

Nod hadn't rushed to him at the door, and he didn't hear him screaming or crying.

"He's under the blanket," Orla pointed to the wiggling green blanket on the couch.

"Is he upset?" Ronin cocked his head to the side.

"He's not as upset as he was a week ago," Orla told him, "he made it through a few more rounds of the game, then decided he wanted to be under his blanket."

"Maybe that's an improvement," Ronin said a bit doubtfully.

"Hiding under a blanket seems much less stressful than screaming or throwing things," Orla agreed.

"That's true," Ronin said, "I'm probably going to try to get back to work in few days. Will you be available to stay with him?"

"It should be fine," Orla said, "just let me know when you're ready."

After seeing Orla out, Ronin went over to the couch. The blanket wiggled a bit more.

"Hey buddy," Ronin tried to pull up the edge of the blanket near Nod's head, "how was your afternoon?"

Nod grabbed the edge of the blanket and refused to let Ronin see under it. Ronin frowned a little, but patted his head through the material and straitened.

"I'm going to go make dinner," he told the boy, "you come out when you're ready."

Nod was still under the blanket when Ronin finished making dinner. He was whistling and chirping and making a tent of it using his feet. He sounded more on the agitated side then cheerful. If Ronin had to guess, he would say Cheep-Cheep was under the blanket with him, and he was carrying on a conversation with him.

Ronin could have tried to grab the boy out from under his cover for dinner, but that didn't seem worth the stress it would cause both of them. Instead, he set the plate of grilled mushrooms and flatbread on the coffee table, along with a bowl of roasted diced peas and sat down in the rocking chair with his own dinner, stretching his feet out in front of him.

For a few minutes, Nod continued to chirp and whistle to himself, then he peeked out of his blanket and eyed the food. Ronin could tell he was trying to figure out how hard it would be to eat dinner under his cover. Finally he slid off the couch and sat on the floor between the couch and the table, dragging his blanket over his head like a hood and sitting Cheep-Cheep next to him.

"Hi there," Ronin grinned at him.

Nod wrinkled his nose at him, then started stacking mushrooms and peas on his flat bread. As usual, he piled too much on and could barely roll the flat bread, but that didn't stop him from trying to get his entire mouth around the roll.

It worked about as well as it usually did, and almost half of the stuffing ended up back on the plate. Nod stuffed it in a second piece of bread, lost half of that, and signed 'hungry' to Ronin.

"You want another piece of bread buddy?" Ronin asked in amusement.

Ronin was used to Nod always being hungry, but it still amazed him how much the boy could eat in a sitting. He offered the boy a piece of bread from his plate, and Nod took it happily, pilling more mushrooms and peas on it.

Nod was much happier by the end of dinner, particular after a nut and dried fruit cookie. Bath time was as wet as usual, and there were no problems with bedtime, and Ronin started to think things might be alright if he went back on duty full time.

* * *

It was late afternoon, and Ronin was tired, but not as tired as Nod. The boy had woken up crying three times last night, and every time it had taken Ronin longer to get him settled back to sleep. They had slept late, or at least late for Ronin, but as soon as he had gotten up, Nod had gotten up and refused to let Ronin out of his sight.

The boy had spent the morning following Ronin around everywhere he went, leaning sleepily against his leg and wanting to help with everything Ronin was doing. The pancakes got a little burnt, and it took twice as long as usual to do the dishes, but they were in no hurry, so it didn't matter.

Now Nod was nodding off over his memory game. He was playing one handed, thumb in his mouth and leaning against Ronin's leg.

"How about a nap buddy?" Ronin asked, stroking back the boy's hair.

'Sleep,' Nod signed back to him with a yawn.

"Yep," Ronin stood and picked the boy up, "I think sleep would be a good thing."

Ronin had no hope of Nod settling down to sleep without him there, so he laid down in bed beside him. The boy cuddled against his side, his eyes drooping shut, but they snapped open again when Ronin shifted.

"I'm not going anywhere," Ronin smoothed back his hair, "don't worry."

Nod stared up at him sleepily for a moment longer, then put his thumb in his mouth and drifted off.

Ronin could have used a nap too. Being woken every few hours by a crying child was, in fact, much more stressful than being woken every few hours by potential threats while on patrol. He had a strong suspicion that Nod's bad night had been caused by him being gone all afternoon.

If that was the case, it meant Nod really did need to be eased gradually back into Ronin being gone all day. He would talk to Finn about rearranging their schedules tomorrow. He wouldn't be able to only go in for half days every day, but he should be able to work it out with Finn so the majority of his afternoons could be spent working from home.

Nod grumbled and stretched in his sleep, then snuggled back against Ronin, his thumb coming out of his mouth so he could grab onto Ronin's shirt. Ronin snorted softly and kissed his hair, then settled more comfortably, dropping off to sleep himself.


	25. Chapter 25

Nod hadn't cared when Ronin got up. Ronin always got up before he did, but when the general came back in to say goodbye and he was in his armor, Nod started to cry. He was screaming or trying to cling to Ronin. He just sat up in bed when he saw him and cried.

"It's okay chickadee," Ronin picked him up and carried him into the living room where Orla was waiting, "I'll only be gone the morning."

Nod sniffed and buried his face against Ronin's shoulder, holding onto his armor.

"Good morning sweet pea," Orla ducked her head slightly to catch the boy's eyes.

"I'll be home for lunch," Ronin made the sign for lunch, "I won't be gone very long."

Nod toyed with the buckles on Ronin's armor, cooing and chirping sadly.

"Would you like some breakfast sweet pea?" Orla held her arms out to him.

Nod shook his head, hands tightening around Ronin's buckles.

"I bet Miss Orla would let you stir the batter for pancakes," Ronin tried, bouncing the boy a little.

"I'd even let you pour your own syrup," Orla coaxed.

Nod cocked his head towards her slightly, but didn't make any move to let go of Ronin.

"I'll pick up something good for lunch on my way home," Ronin kissed the boy's forehead and shifted him into Orla's arms.

He whined and pressed his face against Orla's shoulder.

"Maybe we'll take a nap this morning," Orla rocked slightly with Nod and patted his back.

"He's probably tired," Ronin nodded, "he didn't sleep very well last night."

Nod had slept better than the last few nights, but he had still woken up crying more than once.

Ronin said goodbye and left Nod sniffling and whimpering in Orla's arms. He paused outside the door and listened, but Nod didn't start screaming.

He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and left for his first meeting of the morning.

* * *

"Was he under his blanket all morning?"Ronin frowned at the lump on his couch.

"He crawled under it after breakfast," Orla nodded, "he cried for a while, but no screaming. I think he might have fallen asleep for a while too."

"I guess that's better than him in hysterics," Ronin sighed.

Ronin had really been hoping that Nod would be alright with Orla if it was just for a morning, and they would be able to get back into their normal routine, but it looked like Nod was going to be unhappy with him leaving for a while.

"I think he's alright," Orla said, "he ate, and he fell asleep, so he's not that upset. At least not the way he was. It will probably take him a few days of getting used to you coming home at the same time to feel better about you leaving."

That was the plan, to give Nod as much consistency as possible. Ronin was hoping it would only take a few weeks for him to be able to get back to working full days, although Finn had done a very poor job of disguising his glee over doing less paperwork.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow morning," Ronin said.

Orla said goodbye and patted Nod's head through the blanket. The boy grumbled and wiggled, pulling the blanket more tightly around himself.

"So how was your morning buddy?" Ronin sat on the couch beside him.

Nod rolled over under his blanket to face the back of the couch, and Ronin had no doubt that he was pouting, even without being able to see his face.

"I have twenty incident reports to get through and fifteen disciplinary cases," Ronin rubbed the boy's back, "I can read them to you, and you'll sleep for the rest of the day."

The grumpy growl that came from under the blanket summed up Ronin's thoughts on what he would be spending the rest of the afternoon doing.

At least he would be home.

"But first lunch," Ronin patted the boy's head and pushed himself up, "I got some of those sweet rolls you like to go with it."

Nod didn't respond right away, but after a moment he chirped and stuck his hand out of the blanket, wiggling his fingers.

Ronin paused. While Nod still wasn't talking, he seemed to be understanding more and more of what was said to him. Ronin supposed that was how it had been when he first started talking as well. He had shown a decent understanding for a while before he had actually said any words.

Nod twittered impatiently, and Ronin went to get him a sweet roll. Maybe lunch would put the boy in a better mood.


	26. Chapter 26

Nod popped up between Ronin's knees suddenly, his blanket falling back from his head, and twittered at him impatiently.

It had been three days since Ronin had gone back on duty, and he was still coming home to Nod under his blanket.

Nod had started taking toys under with him, and he would sit and play with them, occasionally poking his head out to demand food. When Ronin went to his study to work in the afternoon, Nod followed him down the hall like a little multi-colored ghost, and settled either under Ronin's desk or in the middle of the floor to play.

"Hello chickadee," Ronin slid his chair back from his desk so there was more room for the boy, "what's up?"

Nod clamored into his lap, losing his blanket in the process and bringing Cheep-Cheep with him. He sat the stuffed chickadee on the desk, and Ronin was quick to move his ink well back. He didn't really want to have to figure out how to get ink off a stuffed animal.

Nod wiggled until he was comfortable, then reached for the quill. Ronin moved it out of his reach, and Nod growled and pointed insistently.

"How about a pencil instead?" Ronin plucked one from the holder and offered it to the boy.

Nod pouted, but took it, and reached for the report Ronin had been reading. Ronin was quick to slide it away from the boy. Nod grumbled and glared at him.

"Do you want to help me with work?" Ronin asked.

Nod pointed irritably to the paper Ronin had taken away.

"How about you write me a new report about what you and Cheep-Cheep did this morning?" Ronin suggested, sliding a blank piece of paper in front of him.

Nod pouted at him, clearly knowing this wasn't the same as helping Ronin with his work, but after a moment he relented and started drawing pictures. Ronin gave the boy a squeeze, then picked up the report and went back to reading.

While trying to do administrative work with Nod around wasn't very efficient, at least it wasn't boring.

* * *

Ronin glanced over when he heard Nod start to make little growling noises. He was still sitting where Ronin had left him on the floor, coloring with something akin to franticness. Sometimes Nod growled when he was drawling animals that growled, and Ronin shook his head slightly and turned back to Finn and the map spread on the table between them.

"So you're moving extra units to the bogs to patrol?" Ronin leaned over the map, studying the patrol routes marked on it.

"Yeah," Finn nodded, "I actually want to get two blue units out there as part of the patrols. The scouts have been reporting signs of bog hoppers, so I'd like to have the blue units in the area as a precaution."

"That should…."

There was the sound of something hitting the wall, and Nod started to cry loudly. Ronin jumped and looked back over at the boy. Nod was still sitting on the floor, but he was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Nod, what's wrong?" Ronin hurried over to him, "what happened?"

Nod continued to sob, and Ronin sat on the floor, pulled him into him lap and starting to check him over, "did you get hurt?"

While Ronin tried to calm the boy down, Finn came over to see what he had been up to. He had enough younger siblings to know that even coloring could be a dangerous activity if they tried hard enough.

The piece of paper Nod had been drawing on was covered in dark, angry scribbles. Finn crouched down and picked it up, taking a closer look. Underneath the scribbles he could just make out three blobby figures. One had his back to the other two, and one had a scowl on his face and was holding onto the third one by the arm. The third one was a tiny crying boy who was reaching for the first one.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what Nod had been thinking about while he was drawing.

"Ronin," Finn held the drawing out to him.

Ronin frowned at it for a moment, then his face fell and he slumped. He cuddled Nod against his chest and started rocking him.

"I'm so sorry chickadee," Ronin murmured, "I shouldn't have let him take you. He won't come near you ever again. I promise."

Finn sighed softly. Nothing was ever easy when children got hurt, especially when they were hurt by adults. They couldn't understand why it had happened, and it took a long time for them to believe it wouldn't happen again.

Nod hiccupped and whimpered in Ronin's arms, his cries starting to quiet. Finn glanced down again at the paper, then settled on his knees next to the coffee table, smoothing out the sheet on it. While Ronin continued to coo softly to the distraught boy, Finn started folding the paper. Nod quieted a bit more as he watched him, his thumb finding its way into his mouth.

By the time Finn finished with the sheet, there was a paper bird in his hands, the scribbled side of the paper just barely visible.

"You can't make the bad things that happen go away," Finn held the bird out to Nod, "but they don't have to stay scary."

Nod reached out tentatively, taking the bird from him. He sniffled, turning it over in his hands, then made a quiet chirping noise, moving the bird like it was flying.

"Thanks Finn," Ronin said softly.

"Yeah," Finn stood and stretched, "Are you good with how I have patrols set?"

"It should be fine," Ronin nodded, using his hand to gently wipe tears from Nod's face.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning then," Finn clapped him on the shoulder as he walked by.

Nod sat up, twittering and waving the bird at him.

"You hold onto that," Finn told him, reaching down to rumble his hair, "paper birds are lucky."

Nod cocked his head to the side, then slid down to sit more comfortably in Ronin's lap, rubbing his eyes on his sleeve and twittering at the bird cradled in his other hand.

"Good night Finn," Ronin said, "Thanks."

Finn waved and let himself out, leaving Ronin with his little chickadee chirping in his lap between the occasional sniffle.


	27. Chapter 27

"We spent all morning on the couch under the blanket again," Orla told Ronin when he got home.

By we, of course, Orla meant Nod.

Ronin had been back on duty for almost three weeks now, and he was still coming home to Nod hiding under his blanket. Some days he couldn't get Nod out from under it until bath time. Actually, Nod had missed a few baths over the past few weeks because he had refused to come out, and the temper tantrum that would ensue over forcing the issue hadn't seemed worth it.

Ronin really couldn't blame him for being angry; he never should have let Barnet take him. He had just been hoping that Nod would get used to him being back on duty a little faster than he was.

"He ate breakfast after you left, but he hasn't eaten anything since then, so he's probably ready for lunch," the daisy jinn said.

"Thank you Orla," Ronin unbuckled his belt and put his sword away.

Ronin bid her goodbye and finished taking off his armor and putting away his weapons before going to kneel down near the end of the blanket he guessed Nod's head was at.

"How was your morning buddy?" Ronin asked, dropping his hand to rest on where Nod's head should be.

The blanket wiggled, and Nod pushed at his hand crankily from under it, but didn't say anything. Nod's understanding seemed to be improving, but he still wasn't talking. At least he was signing when he wanted things.

"I got you something," Ronin opened the bag he had brought home.

Nod shifted again, but didn't come out from under the blanket.

Ronin didn't get Nod toys often. Most of the toys he had, had been gifts from other people. Eben had been coming over to play regularly though, and Ronin thought the boys might like a few more toys to add to their games, and he knew Nod would like adding more birds to his menagerie.

Finn's father, Kendon, was a wood worker. He usually made furniture, but Ronin knew he liked to make toys when he got the chance, and Ronin had asked him to make a set of wooden birds for Nod to play with.

"This is a nuthatch," Ronin pulled the wooden toy out of the bag and set it on the coffee table where Nod could see it if he pulled his head out from under the blanket.

"Here's a warbler and a finch," Ronin set the brightly painted birds in a line, "and a swallow and a junco."

There were over a dozen in all, including two types of humming bird and a duck with two ducklings. Ronin was hoping that the prospect of playing with them would coax him out from under the blanket, or at least cheer him up a little.

After all the birds were in a line, a little hand reached out and plucked a cardinal off the table. A moment later a blue tree swallow disappeared under the blanket as well, and Nod rolled onto his back, sticking his feet in the air to make a tent of the blanket. A perfect cardinal's whistle came from under the blanket, followed by the chirping of a swallow.

"How about some lunch?" Ronin smiled and patted the boy's head through the material, relieved that he seemed happy with his new toys.

A hand shot out for the junco and the appropriate whistle followed. Ronin took that as a yes and got up to get lunch started.

Lunch got eaten in the living room, and in Nod's case, under the blanket. Ronin was sure there were going to be crumbs ground into the cushions, but Nod's mood seemed to gradually be improving, which was more important than any cleaning Ronin would have to do.

Nod imitated birds in-between mouthfuls, or at least Ronin hoped it was between mouthful or the couch really was going to be a mess. They were always local birds, and Ronin wasn't bad at guessing which ones. Nod would keep going with the same call until Ronin got it right. Even if it was only a little game, it was nice to be playing with Nod.

Ronin was almost done with dishes when someone knocked on the door. Since Ronin had started working from home in the afternoons, it had become increasingly common for messengers and couriers, along with an occasional captain, to show up on his doorstep. Nod didn't like strangers coming into their home much, but he did better with that then he did with Ronin being gone all day.

At the sound of the door Nod, who had stuck his head out to rearrange his birds on the coffee table, immediately ducked back under his blanket and curled into a ball. Ronin sighed softly and went to answer the door. Hopefully, this would be quick.

Captain Orion was there with a sizable stack of papers. Orion was their oldest active duty Leafman and handled the basic training for all their new recruits.

"Mid-season reviews for the graduating group," Orion handed off the stack of papers to the general.

"Anything noteworthy?" Ronin stepped back to let him in.

"Your blanket is moving," Orion replied mildly.

Ronin glanced at the couch where Nod was wiggling again under his blanket, "it does that sometimes."

"Also, you seem to have acquired a flock," Orion's lips quirked up in a grin.

"Uh-huh," Ronin replied absently, already distracted by the report he had been handed.

Orion left him to it, heading into the living room to sit on the far side of the coffee table from Nod. He picked up the wooden cardinal and examined it closely.

"This is a really nice humming bird," he said, turning it over in his hand.

The blanket stirred, and it was possible the boy was watching him from under one of the folds.

"Look at all the detail," he smiled slyly, "just like a real humming bird."

A cardinal's whistle came from under the blanket.

"Even the color is right for a humming bird," Orion fought off a grin.

"Cardinal," Nod said firmly.

Ronin jumped at the sound of his voice; it seemed like ages since he had last heard it. Nod was still hidden under his blanket, and Orion looked highly amused.

"No, it's a humming bird," Orion shook his head.

"Cardinal," Nod repeated.

"Look at all the red on it," Orion held the bird up, "it has to be a ruby throated humming bird."

"Cardinal!" Nod insisted, finally poking his head out from under the blanket.

"Huh," Orion eyed the toy, "I guess you're right."

He set it on the table within reach of Nod and picked up the chickadee, "this one is the humming bird then."

Ronin realized he was staring and went back to his reports. Orion had enough great grand children to fill at least two units. If he wanted to play with Nod, Ronin wasn't going to interfere, especially if he could get Nod talking.

Orion misnamed every single bird on the table and by the time he got through all of them Nod had slid off the couch to sit on the floor across from him, stuffed chickadee in his lap, giggling madly every time Orion got it wrong.

"Alright, I know when I've been beat," Orion stood up, "Ronin, do you need anything else?"

"No," Ronin looked up, "thank you."

"You're welcome," Orion's smirk told Ronin he knew he wasn't thanking him for the reports.

Nod waved goodbye and went back to playing with his toys. Ronin let him play while he finished reading. He was tempted to go play with him and try to get him to talk more, but he didn't want Nod to become irritated or frustrated and stop trying to talk all together, so he let him be. If he wanted Ronin to play with him, he wouldn't hesitate to crawl all over him until he did.

Ronin had just finished up, and had a slightly longer mental list than usual of new placements he expected trouble from during their first season, when Nod climbed into his lap, nearly knocking over the water sitting next to the reports. Ronin had to juggle both boy and cup for a moment while Nod settled himself in his lap.

As soon as Nod was settled, he pushed the reports out of the way, making room for his wooden birds. He dumped them in a pile on the table, then pointed to the door.

"Eben's not coming over today," Ronin told him, as that seemed to be what Nod usually wanted when he pointed to the door.

"Who?" Nod demanded, pointing again.

Ronin frowned for a moment, then realized what he was asking, "oh, that was Captain Orion."

Nod gave him a look that clearly said he had great doubts about the competency of Ronin's officers, then started picking up birds and setting them in a row in front of them.

"Finch," Nod told him as he set the bird upright on the table.

"That's right," Ronin grinned down at him.

Nod went through all the birds, giving them their proper name as he set them upright in a row, and Ronin didn't even have to fend his enthusiasm over each declaration. When he had finished all of them, Ronin hugged him tight and covered his face with kisses until the boy was squealing with laughter.

"You're brilliant, you know that," Ronin told the boy proudly.

Nod gave him a confused look.

"You are the most clever, bravest boy I know," Ronin cuddled him close.

Nod gave him a shy grin, then chirped and went back to playing with his birds, using the piles of paper as mountains for them to climb. Ronin didn't interrupt him, not even when he decided to use Ronin's cup for a bird bath.

* * *

Ronin glanced over when Nod jumped up from his spot on the floor of the study suddenly and trotted out the door and down the hall. He was probably just going to get more toys; he already had all his stuffed animals arranged in a circle around where he had been sitting and his wooden birds lined up on the edges of the built in shelves.

There were piles of picture books scattered around the room, and a stack of papers for Nod to draw on. While Nod's crayons were mostly contained in a basket, there were a fair number of them scattered across the floor, and Ronin had to be careful not to step on them. More and more of Nod's toys were migrating to Ronin's study, which he supposed made sense as it was where they spent most of their afternoons now.

Ronin went back to work, looking up a few minutes later when Nod returned with his arms full of blankets and pillows. He dropped them on the floor, then marched back out the door. Ronin watched him repeat the trip several times, first toting the pile of blankets from the living room, then all the pillows he could find, including the ones from the couch, then the pillows and some of the blankets from Ronin's bed. Finally, Ronin heard him dragging something down the hall.

Ronin pushed his chair back and leaned to the side to see out the door. Nod was dragging the futon mattress that had been folded beside the couch down the hall.

"You want some help with that buddy?" Ronin asked.

"No!" Nod huffed, nearly losing his balance when he pulled too hard and the mattress slid more than he expected it to.

It had been a week since Nod had started talking again, and he still wasn't really putting sentences together, but Ronin was more than happy with his one word replies for now. It was progress and that was all that mattered.

Ronin considered, then shrugged and shifted back in his chair, "let me know if you change your mind."

"No!" Nod repeated, tripping a little in his attempt to push the mattress through the door.

Ronin wanted to laugh, but thought maybe he shouldn't. He ducked his head over his reports to hide his smile.

With a last push, Nod managed to get the mattress through the door, and tumbled down on top of it. Unfazed by the fall, the boy popped back up and dragged the mattress to the spot in front of Ronin's desk, then plopped down on top of it. He sat looking around for a moment, then chirped and sprang back up, dragging it to a corner of the room and sitting on it again.

That proved to be unsatisfactory as well, and the boy tried another spot. The process repeated itself several times until Nod finally settled on the far corner behind Ronin's desk. There was just enough room for the futon to lay flat when it was pushed flush against the corner.

Ronin tried to focus on his paperwork, but it was hard with Nod making trips back and forth across the room to collect blankets and pillows, then meticulously arranging them in the corner. It didn't take Ronin long to realize Nod was rebuilding his nest.

An unreasonable surge of happiness passed through Ronin. Nod's nest had been his little sanctuary, and the place he went when he wanted to feel safe, but he hadn't shown any interest in rebuilding it. Now that he was, Ronin really wanted to help him, but the boy seemed adamant that he would do it by himself.

Once Nod had finishing building the nest, he took a big blanket and stood on his tip toes, tucking the edges under the books on the highest shelf he could reach. They weren't heavy enough to hold it though, and it slipped free.

"Let's try putting some more weight on it," Ronin said, pulling a few heavy volumes off the shelf behind him and rearranging the books on the shelf Nod had tried to hang the blanket from so more of them could be stacked on top of it.

Nod watched him with a critical eye, nodding in approval when the blanket stayed in place. He picked up the free corner closest to the shelves on the other side of the corner and stretched it out, holding it in the spot he wanted it.

"Here," the boy demanded.

"Got it," Ronin grinned and stacked books on top of it to hold it in place.

Nod left the last corner hanging loose and went to gather up more books, pulling the heavy ones off the bottom shelves and carrying them to Ronin's desk. Some of them were so heavy he had to use two hands to carry them.

He stacked them as high as he could reach, then tried to get the last corner of the blanket under them and encountered a problem; they were too heavy for him to lift. He looked up at Ronin expectantly, and the general was only too happy to help him out, lifting the books and tucking the edge of the blanket under.

Nod examined everything carefully, then gave a happy chirp and crawled inside. Ronin crouched down so he could see the boy.

"Is it all good?" he asked.

"Yes," Nod grinned at him, "good."

"I'm glad," Ronin smiled.

Ronin sat back down in his chair and carefully slid free a few papers that had been trapped under the stack of books. Nod whistled cheerfully inside his new nest for a few minutes, then crawled out and started collecting his toys to put inside it.

Maybe Ronin would get him a little potted luminescent to put on one of the shelves so he could have more light under the blanket.

Ronin had just settled back into working went Nod tugged on his pant leg. He looked down to see the boy leaning out of his nest and holding up a book.

"Read?" Nod asked hopefully.

Ronin hesitated; he had a lot of work to get through, but Nod looked so eager to have Ronin read to him.

"Okay," Ronin took the book and pushed his chair out of the way.

Ronin couldn't quite fit under the blanket, so he sat on the floor beside the nest, and Nod sprawled across the pillows so he could see the pictures.

All in all, it was a good afternoon, and much better than doing paperwork.


	28. Chapter 28

"I want my fox sweater," Nod demanded, "and my bell shoes."

Ronin was absolutely ecstatic that Nod was talking in full sentences again, even if most of what he said lately seemed to be in direct disagreement with Ronin.

"Do you know where your fox sweater is?" Ronin asked.

"No," the boy huffed.

"So what about your striped sweater and your shoes with the buckles?" Ronin suggested.

"But my fox sweater is better," Nod pouted.

His fox sweater was in the laundry, but he probably didn't realize that, and Ronin wasn't going to tell him. All the grumpiness was really just because he was nervous.

"Do you remember Queen Tara?" Ronin asked, "we used to visit her in her garden."

Nod wrinkled his nose, his brow furrowing as he tried to remember.

"You found a lot of your buttons and buckles and shiny rocks in her garden," Ronin prompted.

Nod continued to look perplexed for a moment longer, then his face brightened, "oh! She smells nice, and her dress is really soft, and she feels nice and warm like my necklace."

Nod held out his lotus lock for Ronin to see.

"That's right," Ronin nodded.

He would have to suggest to which ever family ended up eventually adopting Nod that they have him tested for an aptitude for magic someday. The boy seemed to have some level of sensitivity to it.

"She invited us to come have tea with her," Ronin said, although he had already told Nod this, "and she won't mind if you wear your striped sweater instead of your fox one."

"But we have tea here," Nod pointed out, "she should come here for tea."

"She has lots of different kinds of sweets too," Ronin said, "she wants us to have lunch with her, and you can play in her garden while we're there."

"That's okay, I guess," the boy agreed, twisting the hem of his shirt in his hands, "can I bring Cheep-Cheep?"

"You can bring Cheep-Cheep," Ronin assured him.

"I want to wear my bell shoes," Nod frowned.

"Those aren't really outside shoes buddy," Ronin shook his head, "what about the gray ones with the leaves?"

"You like those," Nod sulked.

"I do like those," Ronin rumpled his hair, "they're soft, and they keep your feet warm."

"Then you should wear them," Nod grumbled.

"They don't fit me kiddo," Ronin said in amusement, "go get your sweater and Cheep-Cheep, and decide if you want the leaf shoes or the ones with the buckles."

"Buckles!" Nod yelled and ran off down the hall.

Ronin shook his head, laughing softly. He was sure Nod would be alright once they got there, but for now, he was nervous and grumpy that he had to go meet someone who wasn't Ronin or Eben. Once he saw Tara and remember her better, he would be happy again.

Nod returned with Cheep-Cheep and a green sweater with a tassel on the hood, which had not been listed among the things he was willing to wear, but looking much more willing to go without a fuss.

"Maybe I don't need shoes," Nod suggested.

"Nope, you need to wear them," Ronin held his shoes out to him, "get your shoes on, and we'll go."

"Chickadees don't need shoes," Nod grumbled as he plopped down on the ground to put them on.

"It's a good thing you're not really a chickadee then," Ronin said mildly.

"I'm your chickadee," Nod huffed as he did the buckles.

"Yes, you are," Ronin pulled him to his feet and leaned over to kiss his head, "ready to go?"

"Yes," Nod tucked Cheep-Cheep under his arm and took Ronin's hand, "I want honey in my tea."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Ronin grinned as he led the boy out the door.

* * *

"What's this one?" Nod pointed eagerly to another delicate confection on the table, coming up onto his knees in his excitement.

Tara had had a table laid in her garden, underneath the blooms of the spring flowers. It was covered in sweets arranged on tiered platters and bite sized snacks on trays. Tara had even found a tea pot and mugs that were shaped like owls.

Nod was so happy he was practically vibrating. He couldn't decide what to try next and seemed to be determined to try at least one of everything.

"That's another petite four," Tara smiled, "it will be a different flavor than the last one you tried, but you'll have to try it to find out what flavor."

Nod took it eagerly, sitting back down on the pile of cushions on his chair. He bit the petite four in half so he could see the inside, chewing happily as he held it up for Tara and Ronin to see.

"It's honey cake!" he said with his mouth full, "and there's blueberry jam at the center."

"That sounds delicious," Tara grinned and picked up the tea pot to refill Ronin's cup.

It had been a very long time since Ronin had sat down to a meal this informal with Tara, not since before she became queen. He had attended public banquets and functions with her, sometimes as her escort, and sometimes because his presence as general was expected, but it was a rare treat to simply sit down with her.

The invitation had really been for Nod though. Children who were orphaned and had no relatives or guardians to take immediate custody of them automatically became wards of the crown. The Child Advocacy Commission tried to place children in permanent homes as quickly as possible, but occasionally circumstances would keep a child in an in-between state for an extended amount of time.

Tara always took the time to give these children her personal attention. She took seriously that she was their guardian until a permanent home could be found for them. Nod certainly fell into that category at the moment.

"Do you want to try a sandwich buddy?" Ronin asked, sliding the plate of triangle cut sandwiches towards him, "I think these have dried cranberries in them."

"I like cranberries," Nod took one, putting it on his plate next to the bird-shaped wagashi that he had decided he was going to wait to eat because he wanted to play with it first.

Ronin's mother had been a strict enforcer when it came to etiquette at meals, and playing with food before eating it was definitely not allowed, even if the food did look like a toy. All Ronin really cared about though was that Nod was happy and having fun. If he wanted to make his wagashi fly around his plate and pretend it was helping him eat, Ronin was just fine with that.

Nod chattered happily about playing with Eben, and the luminescent living stone Ronin had gotten him to keep in his nest. Tara smiled and asked him questions and nodded in all the right spots while subtly shifting trays of sandwiches and bit sized vegetable snacks closer to him than the trays of sweets.

Ronin was caught off guard by the ache seeing her with Nod caused. The thought came unbidden and unwanted that if things had been different, if someone else had been chosen to be queen, this could have been his every day.

"Queen Tara?" Nod interrupted himself suddenly.

"Yes sweetie?" Tara asked.

"When I used to come here with Ronin and he would talk to you about boring things, I would go find pretty stuff, like rocks and buckles and buttons, that were hiding in your garden. Maybe I could go and see if there's still pretty stuff here for you?" Nod gave her a hopefully look.

"That would be lovely," Tara laughed softly, "in fact, I even have a basket for you to put them in if you find anything."

Tara offered him a basket woven of colorfully dyed grass, and Nod took it eagerly, hopping down from his chair and running off in-between the tall blades of grass.

"How much did you hide?" Ronin asked, refilling Tara's cup.

"Enough to make him very happy, I hope," Tara smiled, "he seems to be doing better."

"Today has been a good day," Ronin leaned back in his chair, "he still gets mad at me for leaving for work though."

"So you think you're going to be on half days for a while still?" Tara grinned at the sound of Nod shouting that he had found a buckle.

"I think so," Ronin nodded, "I worked a full day last week so Finn could get a day off, and Nod didn't come out from under his blanket until dinner time the next day."

"So you had a little ghost following you around for a day," Tara concluded.

"A growling red and brown spotted ghost," Ronin affirmed.

"I think I want one of those to keep," Tara laughed.

Ronin snorted, "he's much cuter when he's not under the blanket."

"Queen Tara!" Nod yelled from somewhere in a patch of pink maidens, "I found a whole string of sparkly beads!"

"That's wonderful sweetie," Tara called back.

She looked wistfully in the direct of the rustling underbrush.

"I just wish…," Tara trailed off, fingers curling slightly where they rested on the table, "if things had been different…"

Ronin hesitated, then reached out, just barely brushing her hand.

"You won't be queen forever," he said softly.

"I…" Tara turned to look at him.

"Queen Tara!"

Nod came racing out of the underbrush, basket in hand.

"I found a lot of pretty things!" the boy ran up to her, "do you want to see?"

"Show me everything you found," Tara scooped him up into her lap, scattering kisses across his face.

Nod giggled and sprawled against her, reaching for another petite four as he dug through his basket, holding up each treasure to show her, and telling her in exacting detail where he had found it and why it was so special and important.

Ronin watched Tara praise and cuddle the boy, swapping out the tray of sugared flower petals for mushroom tarts when Nod wasn't looking and stopping him from spilling tea all over himself when he tried to drink it one handed, his other hand occupied with a highly polished and carved stone pendant.

If she hadn't been queen…

But she wouldn't be queen forever.


	29. Chapter 29

Ronin woke to Nod's sobbing and was sad to realize he wasn't even surprised by it anymore. He sat up in bed, gathering the boy in his arms and holding him close.

"It's alright chickadee," he cooed softly, "it was just a bad dream, everything's alright."

Nod buried his face against Ronin's chest and continued to cry. Ronin pulled the blankets up around him to keep him warm and hummed to him softly until his sobs has quieted.

"You want to tell me what your dream was about buddy?" Ronin asked gently.

"No!" Nod tightened his hold on Ronin's night shirt, pressing his face harder against him.

Ronin had asked a few times since Nod had started talking again what his nightmares were about, but Nod refused to tell him. He didn't want to upset the boy more by forcing the issue, but he wished he knew how to help.

"Okay," Ronin stroked his hair, "you don't have to, but if you ever want to, I'll listen."

The boy continued to sniffled for a few minutes before looking up at him.

"Ronin?" he asked tentatively.

"Hmm?" Ronin smoothed back the boy's hair from his flush face.

"Am I being bad when I wake you up?" Nod dropped his gaze away from Ronin.

"No," Ronin reassured him quickly, "I always want you to wake me up if you need anything at night."

"Really?" Nod asked uncertainly.

"Really," Ronin leaned down to press his forehead against the boy's, "it's okay to be scared. I have bad dreams too sometimes, and they scare me."

"You wake up sometimes," Nod played with the laces on Ronin's night shirt.

Ronin winced a little. He had been trying not to wake Nod up with his nightmares, but apparently he hadn't entirely succeeded.

"Yeah I do," Ronin said.

"What are your bad dreams about?" Nod asked.

Ronin wiped away the tears on Nod's cheeks with a corner of the blanket while he took a minute to think about the best way to answer. He didn't want to frighten Nod, and he didn't want Nod to get the idea in his head that the dreams were somehow his fault, but sharing them with Nod might encourage the boy to talk to Ronin about his own nightmares.

"My bad dreams are about losing you," Ronin gave the boy a squeeze, "and I'm really glad that when I wake up, you're here with me so I know you're safe."

Nod lifted his head to stare at him, clearly surprised, then wrapped his arms around Ronin's neck.

"Okay," the boy told him, "I'll stay with you then, and you won't have to be scared when you wake up."

Ronin blinked in surprise, automatically tightening his arms around the boy.

"I'd like that," he said softly, pressing a kiss to Nod's hair.

Nod yawned and rested his head on Ronin's shoulder, drifting back to sleep, but Ronin didn't lay him down right away. Nod was improving daily, but he still seemed so insecure and frightened. Ronin wished he could find a way to make Nod feel safe again, and secure in the knowledge that he wasn't going to be taken away the same way he had been before, even if he wasn't going to be staying with Ronin forever.

Maybe then, they would both get a good night's sleep.

* * *

"Hmm," Raze leaned his head on his hand, his brow creased thoughtfully, "does he have things that are designated as his in your apartment?"

Ronin had asked to meet with Nod's advocates to see if they had any thoughts on things that might help Nod recover more quickly. They worked with children in stressful circumstances daily, and they had a lot of experience in the best ways to help them cope with that. Jori had been working on another case and not able to make it, but Raze had been happy to meet with him.

"He has toys and books," Ronin said, "and sippy cups, although he doesn't really need them anymore. He still likes to use them when he's tired. He has a cupboard that we designated as his to put food in so he can get it whenever he wants, and he has caches of buttons and buckles hidden all over the apartment."

"So you have a little magpie on your hands then," Raze snickered.

"Yes," Ronin rolled his eyes, "but it makes him happy going back to where he hid them and seeing they're still there."

"Well, it's probably reassuring to him to find things where he left them," Raze grinned, "he doesn't have his own corner or bed or anything like that?"

"He sleeps with me; I probably wouldn't be able to get him to sleep anywhere else at night," Ronin explained.

"That's fine," Raze shrugged, "he likes sleeping there, and it probably helps him feel safer to know you're there, especially since he's still having nightmares."

"He used to have a blanket nest he built himself behind the couch," Ronin said thoughtfully, "he wasn't interested in rebuilding it after he came back home, but a few weeks ago he built himself one in the corner of my study."

"Well, that's a good sign," Raze nodded, "that probably means he's starting to settle in again and feel comfortable being there. It could just be he needs more time."

"I could give him his own room," Ronin mused, "I'm well below my housing grade, and I could put in a request for a larger living space, but I'm not sure I want to move him someplace new when he's just starting to settle back in."

"No," Raze agreed, "I wouldn't advise making a move like that. Based on the notes I have on him, I wouldn't want to make any major changes to his environment for a while."

"I could give him the study, I guess," Ronin said, "it's an inner room, so there's no windows, and it's not very big, but it would be big enough for a bedroom for him if I pulled all my things out. He probably wouldn't sleep there, but at least he would know it was his for as long as he stays with me."

"That could help," Raze nodded, "but do you need your study?"

"Not really," Ronin shrugged, "I've been using it a lot lately because I've been working from home, but I almost never used it before that, and I'm going to need to start going back to full days soon anyway. I can work around not having a study until then."

"That could be really good for him," Raze agreed, "and having a room he's already familiar with and considers his own will help when he's ready to start sleeping in his own bed, if he's still with you then, that is."

The twinge Ronin felt at the thought of Nod not being with him was starting to become familiar. It wasn't practical for him to keep Nod, and it wouldn't be best for the boy in the long run, but there were so many things Ronin would miss when he eventually went to a new family.

It would be better the next time though. They would be able to make the transition at Nod's pace, and he would be going to live with people who loved and wanted him.

Ronin thanked Raze for his help and left, his mind turning over the things he would need to turn his study into a room for Nod.


	30. Chapter 30

As soon as Ronin sat on the couch, Nod crawled into his lap, bringing Cheep-Cheep and a picture book with him. Ronin set the picture book aside and shifted Nod so he was facing him.

"I had an idea," he told the boy.

"Is it a good idea?" Nod cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Well, I want you to decide that," Ronin looped his arms behind the boy's back.

Ronin had been mulling over the idea of Nod having his own room for a few days, and he had contacted a few people with inquiries about the things he would need and felt he had a good grasp of what they would have to do to change the study into a bedroom.

In the end though, he had decided he would let Nod chose what he wanted to do. The boy had been denied a choice when Barnet had come, maybe having one now, even if it was a relatively small one, would help him feel like he was more in control.

"I think having honey brittle for dinner tonight is a good idea," Nod informed him.

"I bet you do," Ronin laughed, nuzzling his nose against Nod's and making him giggle, "but we're having cattail fritters for dinner. We can have honey brittle after dinner though."

"Riding birds is a good idea," Nod offered, "especially if you let me steer."

"I'm off in a few days. If the weather is good, we can go out," Ronin grinned, "but I had another idea."

"Pie is a good idea, with blackberries," Nod had decided this was a game, and he had to guess what Ronin's idea was; he wanted it to be a good idea, so he was only going to guess good things.

"What about black-caps?" Ronin asked.

"Those are good too," Nod agreed, "also strawberries."

Ronin chuckled, giving Nod a squeeze.

"So, here's my idea," Ronin put in before Nod could make another guess, "what if we turn my study into your very own bedroom?"

"With a bed?" Nod looked slightly perplexed.

"Yes, with a bed, although you don't have to sleep in it," Ronin confirmed, "you can sleep with me as long as you want, but we could get you drawers to put all your clothes in, and put your books on the shelves, and move your toy chest in there."

"Can I put things under the bed?" Nod asked.

"Maybe not food," Ronin said, "but you can put other things under it."

"Like glow-y plants?" Nod slowly warmed up to the idea of having his own bed to keep things under.

"We could put a lumencent under it," Ronin nodded, "we would just have to remember to put it in the sun sometimes or it won't glow."

"How about blankets?" Nod asked, "and pillows."

"Those can go under the bed too," Ronin suspected Nod was already imagining the nest he would build under the bed, which was fine with Ronin, "we'll make sure there's enough blankets and pillows to go on the bed and under it."

"What about your desk?" Nod frowned slightly, "where will your desk go?"

"Well, maybe if there's enough room, we'll leave it in there for you to use," Ronin hadn't expected him to be worried about that, "if not, we'll get rid of it."

"But then you'll have to go back to working someplace else," Nod protested, "I like it when you work at home. If you don't work at home anymore then it's a bad idea."

Ronin laughed and cuddled Nod close, blowing raspberries against his cheeks until he stopped pouting. He was eventually going to need to get back to working out of his office. It was inefficient for Ronin to do all his administrative work at home, but he would make it work for as long as Nod needed him to. He had been trying to gradually increase the time he was gone during the day over the last few weeks, but whether he had a desk or not wouldn't have much bearing on that.

"I'll just work at the dining table," Ronin reassure him, "it will be fine."

"And it would be my room, like your room is your room?" Nod tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.

"That's right," Ronin nodded.

"And I could still sleep with you and play under your bed and keep my buttons there?" Nod asked.

"Absolutely," Ronin suspected Nod had more than buttons stashed under his bed, but that was alright, "what do you think? Do you want to give it a try?"

Nod considered for a moment, then nodded, "okay, but maybe I won't sleep there. I'll just play there and keep my toys there and I'll make a nest for Bee and Crunch and Ribbit, but not Cheep-Cheep because Cheep-Cheep only likes sleeping with me."

"That sounds perfect," Ronin kissed his forehead, "on my next day off we'll go talk to Eben's dad, Mr. Kendon, about making you a bed. You can tell him what you want him to carve on it."

"Will he carve pictures of birds on it?" Nod asked eagerly.

"I'm sure he will," Ronin nodded.

"I'll draw him pictures!" Nod wiggled off Ronin's lap, running to look for paper and pencil, "then he'll know what birds to put on it!"

"That sounds like a great idea," Ronin grinned, "I'm sure it will help him."

Nod returned with sheets of paper and a pencil, plopping down on the ground between Ronin's feet and spreading his supplies on the coffee table.

"You hold Cheep-Cheep," the boy set his stuffed animal in Ronin's lap, "he likes being held."

"Alright," Ronin shifted the bird to the crook of his arm and reached for the book Nod had brought with him, "do you want me to read to you while you draw?"

"Yes," Nod leaned over his paper, concentrating on his drawing, "I like that book. It has foxes and deer and bears and also moon owls. I like moon owls. I'll draw a moon owl for Mr. Kendon, and then he'll know to put one on my bed."

"And the moon owls will watch over you if you ever decide you want to sleep there," Ronin rumpled Nod's hair.

"No, I won't sleep there. The moon owls will take care of Bee and Crunch and Ribbit," Nod focused very hard on drawing little fluffy owls, "I have you to take care of me."

"Always," Ronin leaned forward to kiss Nod's head, then opened the book, "there are many different animals in the forest…"

* * *

Ronin had warned Nod that Kendon would be bringing people with him to help him set up the bed, but the boy still ran to hide in Ronin's room when he saw the strangers at the door.

Ronin and Nod had spent the last few weeks empting Ronin's study and rearranging the bookshelves in the living room to fit his books on and moving all of Nod's things into the study. Nod had picked out a nightstand with a polished malachite top he claimed looked like a tree top, which was fitting since the shade of the oil lamp Ronin had gotten him had chickadees on it.

He had already had a toy chest, but he had had Ronin move it into a new location almost every time he came in the room, and spent what felt like hours sitting on Ronin's shoulders, rearranging his 'extra special treasures' on the top shelves of the built in book cases.

The nest had been taken apart and reassembled in four different spots before Ronin had finally mapped out the spot the bed was going in so Nod could see where there would be room for his nest, and Nod had decided he wanted the nest in Ronin's room, at least until he could rebuild it under the bed.

Nod had been asking about the bed every day since they had gone to Kendon's to talk to him about it. Kendon had listened carefully as Nod had explained all his pictures, then asked if he could keep them for reference and promised there would be birds on the head and foot board.

Ronin almost wished that he hadn't told Nod the bed was coming today. He had been asking every twenty minutes since he got up this morning when the bed was going to be there.

Now that it was here, Ronin was more than a little amused that Nod was hiding.

Ronin leaned against the doorway to Nod's new room, staying out of the way while they put the bed together. He wasn't at all surprised when Nod crept out and hid behind him.

"It's all wrapped up," Nod whispered, peering around Ronin's leg to see into the room.

"That's to protect it while they're putting it together," Ronin patted Nod's head.

"What does it look like?" the boy asked.

"You'll have to wait and see," Ronin grinned down at him.

"Hey Nod," Kendon beckoned from where he was sitting on the floor near the footboard fitting pegs into place, "do you want a sneak peak?"

Nod hesitated, looking up at Ronin, and Ronin smiled down at him encouragingly. The boy darted into the room and crouched down beside the woodworker. Kendon pulled back the blanket to reveal two fox cubs playing together in the grass next to the bed post, which had been carved to look like a tree trunk.

"There's baby foxes!" Nod called happily, running his fingers over the carvings, "Ronin look! They're happy foxes!"

Kendon laughed, "I thought the boy with the fox sweater might like that."

Ronin grinned. Kendon had done a beautiful job carving the toy birds for Nod, and Ronin had been confident the bed would be well done, and Nod would love it.

"You hold this for me," Kendon handed Nod his hammer, and picked up another tool, "and we'll get this done even quicker, and then you can see the rest of the bed."

"Okay!" Nod agreed enthusiastically.

Nod followed Kendon around for the next half hour, holding whatever tool he handed him and squealing with delight every time he caught a glimpse of the carvings. It took less than half an hour to put the bed together, and Kendon had his assistance help him put the mattress on before thanking them and letting them leave.

"Ready to see the whole bed?" Kendon asked.

"Yes!" Nod cheered enthusiastically.

"Jump up here and help me undo the blankets," Kendon patted the mattress.

Nod scrambled up and started working on unknotting the ties holding the blankets in place, and Ronin came in to help him. Kendon waited for him to finish before pulling all the blankets off the headboard.

Ronin was impressed. Kendon had done much more than Ronin had expected. The bed posts were carved into trees, their leafy branches stretching out to form the top of the headboard. There were birds perched in all the branches, and a nest tucked into a hollow of one of the trees. The very top of each post had a small fluffy owl perched on it.

"Ronin look!" Nod jumped with excitement, "there are chickadees, and finches and wrens and hummingbirds and moon owls and baby chickadees and look! That one looks just like the one I drew!"

He pointed to one of the birds in the nest in the hollow. Unlike the realistic carvings of the other birds, it was blobby and much less detailed.

"It was so good, I had to put it in," Kendon grinned.

Nod beamed at him, then spotted a very special bird propped against a trunk on the carved grass that ran between the two post.

"It's Cheep-Cheep!" Nod shouted, "Cheep-Cheep is there!"

"Yeah he is," Ronin grinned.

"I have to go get him so he can see!" Nod vaulted off the bed and raced across the hall to Ronin's room where he had left his stuffed toy.

"Thank you," Ronin held his hand out to Kendon, "this is amazing."

"It was fun," Kendon shook the offered hand, "I don't get to do projects like this very often."

Nod raced back into the room with Cheep-Cheep and jumped up onto the bed again, happily showing him the picture of him, and naming all the birds that were in the trees for him.

"Hey Nod," Ronin tapped the boy's shoulder, "can you tell Mr. Kendon thank you for making this for you?"

Nod sprung to his feet and hugged Kendon, "thank you Mr. Kendon! It's the bestest bed in the whole world!"

"You are very welcome," Kendon gave him a squeeze, "and you haven't even see the footboard yet."

"There are baby foxes!" Nod told Cheep-Cheep and bounced off the bed to help Kendon take the rest of the blankets off.

Ronin couldn't help laughing. Maybe Nod would want to sleep in his own bed after all.


	31. Chapter 31

"Ronin! Ronin! Ronin!" Nod called his name with every jump on his bed.

"Yes?" Ronin caught him while he was in the air.

It was possible he was going to have to make a rule about Nod jumping on the bed.

"Can Eben come over tomorrow so I can show him my room?" Nod squirmed in Ronin's arms.

"He has school tomorrow," Ronin shook his head, "you know Mr. Kendon is Eben's dad, right?"

"Yes," Nod wiggled, trying to escape Ronin's grip, and Ronin let him drop, bouncing down on the mattress, "but Eben said his dad told him I got to see the bed first because it was for me, and I could show him after I got it."

"I think Mrs. Nora said he could come over the day after tomorrow," Ronin smiled, "you can show Miss Orla tomorrow though."

"Maybe you should stay home tomorrow so we can play in my new room," Nod looked up at Ronin, wrinkling his nose at him.

"We can play in it tomorrow afternoon when I get home," Ronin rumpled his hair, "for now though, it's bed time."

They had spent the rest of the afternoon making Nod's bed and arranging the last of his things in his room. Nod had rebuilt his nest under the bed and done his best to be sneaky about moving some of his treasures to hide under it. Ronin had dutifully pretended not to notice.

Nod was ready for bed now, but he was still practically vibrating with over his new room.

"Go pick out a book for us to read," Ronin plucked him off the bed and set him on his feet.

Maybe story time would calm him down a little.

"Okay," Nod started to run to the living room, then stopped, "my books are all here!"

The boy turned around and ran to his bookshelf, chattering away about how all his books were in his room, and he could look at them whenever he wanted, and even take them in his nest under the bed, because he had put the "glow-y" plant under it.

Ronin made a mental note to remind Nod to bring the plant out so it could sit in the sun for a while each day, otherwise it wouldn't keep glowing.

Nod trotted back to Ronin with his arms full of books, "can we read them in my bed?"

"Of course," Ronin lifted the boy with his load of books onto the bed.

Nod scrambled over to make room for Ronin, and Ronin sat down beside him, leaning back against the headboard.

"Maybe…" Nod frowned down at the new blanket he had picked out, the one with the chickadees on it, "maybe just tonight maybe we could sleep in my bed and you could sleep with me and it would be okay because you would be here and it would be good."

Ronin grinned and pulled the boy onto his lap, "we can sleep here whenever you want."

"It's the bestest bed ever and we'll like it and it will be good and we'll sleep good here because there are moon owls," Nod snuggled against Ronin happily.

Ronin was very glad that Kendon had talked him into getting a full sized bed. He had originally intended to get Nod a small bed, but Kendon had pointed out that if he got him a bed he could grown into, he would be able to use it even after he grew up. He had also mentioned that his own children liked he and Nora to lay down with them every now and then, and he wished they had full-sized beds when that happened.

"I'm sure we will," Ronin kissed his head, "which book do you want to read first?"

"This one!" Nod held a book out to him, "it has moon owls and Jack."

Ronin opened the book, setting it on Nod's lap so he could see the pictures while Ronin read.

* * *

Ronin knew it was morning, but there was no light coming through the cracks in his curtains, and for a moment he was disgruntled that the day was going to be stormy. Then he remembered that he was sleeping in Nod's room, and there were no windows.

Nod was sound asleep, sprawled sideways on the bed, his head on Ronin's chest and one foot hanging over the side. Even in his sleep, the boy was a wiggled worm.

Ronin sat up, carefully maneuvering Nod back onto the bed and under the covers. The boy rarely got up when Ronin did, especially since…

Ronin froze, his hand raised to tuck the blanket around Nod. Nod hadn't woken up last night, and neither had Ronin. They had both slept the night through for the first time since the disaster with Barnet.

Nod stirred in his sleep, rolling over to get closer to Ronin's warmth, and Ronin smiled down at him, tucking the blankets around him securely.

"We're going to be just fine chickadee," he leaned over to kiss the boy's hair, "I'm sure of it."

* * *

The End

* * *

Author's note: Thank you everyone who's taken the time to read and for all the lovely comments! There are plans for a sequel that continues little Nod's adventures and will wrap up the loose ends that are left. Unfortunately, I can't give an ETA on it, but it is in the works.


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